CVE-2020-24509
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 · uneditedInsufficient control flow management in subsystem in Intel(R) SPS versions before SPS_E3_05.01.04.300.0, SPS_SoC-A_05.00.03.091.0, SPS_E5_04.04.04.023.0, or SPS_E5_04.04.03.263.0 may allow a privileged 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 · high confidenceIntel Server Platform Services (SPS) firmware contains an insufficient control flow management vulnerability in a subsystem. A user with existing privileged access on the system could potentially exploit this local vulnerability to escalate their privileges further. The vulnerability affects multiple SPS versions across different processor families (E3, SoC-A, and E5).
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< sps_soc-a_05.00.03.091.0= sps_e3_05.01.04.300.0= sps_e5_04.04.03.263.0= sps_e5_04.04.04.023.0CVSS 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
- High
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify SPS firmware versionRetrieve the Intel Server Platform Services firmware version using dmidecode (dmidecode -s bios-version), Intel System Information Viewer (SIV), or via IPMI/BMC interface using ipmitool. On Linux, check /sys/class/dmi/id/ files or run dmidecode to locate the SPS version string.Affected if The SPS firmware version matches or falls within the affected ranges: sps_soc-a versions below 05.00.03.091.0, sps_e3 version exactly 05.01.04.300.0, or sps_e5 versions exactly 04.04.03.263.0 or 04.04.04.023.0
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Determine processor familyIdentify the Intel processor family (E3, SoC-A, or E5) using dmidecode -s processor-family, checking server model specifications, or reviewing CPU information from /proc/cpuinfo.Affected if The server utilizes one of the affected processor families (E3, SoC-A, or E5) that corresponds to the vulnerable SPS version installed
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Verify SPS subsystem is activeConfirm that the Server Platform Services subsystem is running on the server. This can be done by checking BMC/IPMI logs, system management interfaces, or verifying SPS-related processes/services are present. Intel SPS typically runs as part of the server firmware stack.Affected if The SPS firmware is present and active on the system, enabling the vulnerable code path to be reached
A system is affected if it is an Intel server with an E3, SoC-A, or E5 processor running the specific SPS firmware version that matches the affected versions for that processor family.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
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 dataUpdate Intel SPS firmware to version SPS_E3_05.01.04.300.0 or later for E3 platforms, SPS_SoC-A_05.00.03.091.0 or later for SoC-A platforms, and SPS_E5_04.04.04.023.0 or SPS_E5_04.04.03.263.0 or later for E5 platforms to remediate this vulnerability.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-24509 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2020-24509 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- 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
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