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Debian LinuxOperating system · Debian

CVE-2020-24489

HIGH · 8.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2021-06-09
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
90/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
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
Incomplete cleanup in some Intel(R) VT-d products may allow an authenticated user to potentially enable escalation of privilege via local 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 · moderate confidence

Intel VT-d (Virtualization Technology for Directed I/O) contains an incomplete cleanup vulnerability that allows an authenticated local user to escalate privileges. The specific nature of the uncleaned resources or state is not detailed in available documentation, but the flaw enables a user with basic system access to gain elevated privileges through improper handling of VT-d resources during operation or teardown.

MitigationApply Intel-provided patches for affected VT-d implementations; verify with Intel's product security advisories for specific version guidance and update firmware/BIOS/hypervisor components as recommended.

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
Debian LinuxOperating system
Affected:= 9.0= 10.0
Atom X5 E3930Hardware / appliance
Affected:all versions
Atom X5 E3940Hardware / appliance
Affected:all versions
Atom X7 E3950Hardware / appliance
Affected:all versions
Celeron J1750Hardware / appliance
Affected:all versions
Celeron J1800Hardware / appliance
Affected:all versions
Celeron J1850Hardware / appliance
Affected:all versions
Celeron J1900Hardware / appliance
Affected:all versions

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
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Changed
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/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. Identify CPU model
    Run 'lscpu' or 'cat /proc/cpuinfo' to identify the processor. Look for model names: Atom X5 E3930, Atom X5 E3940, Atom X7 E3950, Celeron J1750, Celeron J1800, Celeron J1850, Celeron J1900.
    Affected if The CPU model matches any of the listed affected Intel Atom or Celeron processors.
  2. Check Debian version
    Run 'cat /etc/debian_version' to identify the Debian release. Compare against affected versions 9.0 and 10.0.
    Affected if The system runs Debian 9.0 or Debian 10.0.
  3. Verify VT-d is enabled in BIOS/UEFI
    Access system BIOS/UEFI settings during boot (typically press F2, Del, or F12). Navigate to 'Advanced' or 'CPU Configuration' and look for 'Intel VT-d' or 'Intel Virtualization Technology for Directed I/O' setting.
    Affected if VT-d is enabled in the BIOS/UEFI firmware.
  4. Check hypervisor VT-d configuration
    If using a hypervisor (KVM, Xen, VMware), check if VT-d passthrough is configured. For KVM, run 'virsh dumpxml <vmname>' and look for <hostdev> entries or check 'xl cfg' for Xen. For VMware, check VM configuration for PCI device passthrough.
    Affected if A hypervisor is in use with VT-d device passthrough enabled for guest virtual machines.
  5. Check firmware version
    If available, check the BIOS/UEFI firmware version via 'dmidecode -s bios-version' or through system information utilities. Compare against any Intel-provided firmware advisories for this CVE.
    Affected if The firmware version is unpatched and Intel has released an update for that specific platform.

A user is likely affected if their system uses one of the listed Intel processors or Debian versions AND has VT-d enabled in BIOS/UEFI or hypervisor configuration.

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.

dbcve · scoped
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Apply Intel-provided patches for affected VT-d implementations; verify with Intel's product security advisories for specific version guidance and update firmware/BIOS/hypervisor components as recommended.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

Contact Intel or your system OEM for the specific firmware version containing the CVE-2020-24489 fix

  1. Contact your system OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) to obtain the latest BIOS/firmware update that addresses CVE-2020-24489 for your specific Intel processor model
  2. Apply the Intel VT-d firmware update following the OEM's documented firmware update process
  3. Verify the firmware version has been updated after applying the patch
  4. For Debian systems, ensure the system is fully updated: run 'apt update && apt upgrade' to apply any available kernel or system updates
  5. Restart the system after firmware update to ensure changes take effect
Caveat Firmware updates carry risk; ensure you have backups and power backup before flashing BIOS/firmware. OEM-specific updates may be required as Intel may only provide reference code to OEMs.

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Debian Linux Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing12.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
28.0 hours of engineering $4,760
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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-2020-24489 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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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
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data