Baseboard Management Controller FirmwareOperating system · Intel

CVE-2020-24474

HIGH · 8.0 CVSS v3.1 Published 2021-06-09
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 2.48.ce3e3bd2 or later.
See remediation →
82/100
Remediation priority · High
Zero-click

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
Buffer overflow in the BMC firmware for some Intel(R) Server Boards, Server Systems and Compute Modules before version 2.48.ce3e3bd2 may allow an authenticated user to potentially enable escalation of privilege via adjacent access.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · high confidence

A buffer overflow vulnerability exists in the BMC (Baseboard Management Controller) firmware for certain Intel server boards, systems, and compute modules. The flaw allows an authenticated user with adjacent network access to potentially escalate privileges. The vulnerability is patched in version 2.48.ce3e3bd2 and later.

MitigationApply the Intel firmware update version 2.48.ce3e3bd2 or later to all affected Intel Server Boards, Server Systems, and Compute Modules. Restrict adjacent network access to BMC management interfaces and limit BMC user accounts to only those necessary.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
Baseboard Management Controller FirmwareOperating system
Affected:< 2.48.ce3e3bd2

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Adjacent
Complexity
Low
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Locate the BMC interface address
    Identify the IP address or hostname of the Baseboard Management Controller. This is typically found in server BIOS/UEFI settings under BMC network configuration, or by checking your network for devices responding on IPMI ports (623/UDP).
    Affected if The BMC IP address is reachable on the network.
  2. Obtain BMC firmware version via IPMI
    Run command: ipmitool -I lanplus -H <bmc-ip> -U <username> -P <password> mc info. This returns BMC version information including the firmware build string.
    Affected if The displayed firmware version string is earlier than 2.48.ce3e3bd2.
  3. Obtain BMC firmware version via web interface
    Access the BMC web UI at https://<bmc-ip> and navigate to Settings > Firmware Update or System Information > BMC Information. Locate the firmware version or build string displayed.
    Affected if The displayed firmware version string is earlier than 2.48.ce3e3bd2.
  4. Obtain BMC firmware version via Redfish API
    Send a GET request to https://<bmc-ip>/redfish/v1/Managers/1 and examine the FirmwareVersion or BuildNumber field in the JSON response.
    Affected if The returned firmware version is earlier than 2.48.ce3e3bd2.
  5. Confirm authentication is required
    Verify that the vulnerability requires an authenticated user. Ensure you have valid BMC credentials (or confirm your security team does).
    Affected if Valid BMC user credentials exist in the environment, making the privilege escalation path applicable.

You are affected if your Intel BMC firmware version is below 2.48.ce3e3bd2 and the BMC is network-accessible with valid user accounts configured.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

From vendor data
Upgrade available Upgrade to 2.48.ce3e3bd2 or later
Fixed in 2.48.ce3e3bd2
Interim mitigation

Apply the Intel firmware update version 2.48.ce3e3bd2 or later to all affected Intel Server Boards, Server Systems, and Compute Modules. Restrict adjacent network access to BMC management interfaces and limit BMC user accounts to only those necessary.

Fix this in Baseboard Management Controller Firmware Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
15.0 hours of engineering $2,690
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Scan for this in your stack

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dbcve dependency scanner

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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2020-24474 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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