FedoraOperating system · Fedoraproject
CVE-2020-8696
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 · uneditedImproper removal of sensitive information before storage or transfer in some Intel(R) Processors may allow an authenticated user to potentially enable information disclosure 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 confidenceA processor-level vulnerability in certain Intel CPUs where sensitive information is not properly removed before storage or transfer. This allows an authenticated local user to potentially access residual sensitive data through the processor's cache or memory subsystems.
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
FedoraOperating system
= 31
Debian LinuxOperating system
= 9.0all versionsall versionsall versionsall versionsall versionsCVSS 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
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
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 the processor modelRun 'lscpu' or 'cat /proc/cpuinfo' to identify the CPU vendor, model, and family. Look for Intel processors in families known to be affected by this vulnerability.Affected if The system uses an Intel processor that falls within the affected CPU families for CVE-2020-8696 (consult Intel's processor list for this CVE).
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Check the current microcode versionOn Linux systems, check /proc/cpuinfo for 'microcode' version, or use 'intel-microcode --version' if installed. On NetApp systems, use the appropriate hardware diagnostic commands.Affected if The installed microcode version is earlier than the version that includes the CVE-2020-8696 fix (fixed microcode versions were released by Intel).
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Check BIOS/firmware versionRun 'dmidecode -s bios-version' on Linux, or check the system BIOS/UEFI version through vendor tools or IPMI/BMC interfaces.Affected if The BIOS firmware version is earlier than the version that includes the microcode update addressing this CVE.
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Verify microcode is loaded at bootCheck system logs (dmesg, journalctl) for microcode loading messages, and verify that microcode is being applied during the boot process.Affected if The microcode update is not being loaded or applied during system boot.
The environment is affected if it uses an Intel CPU within the affected family range and the installed microcode/BIOS version has not been updated to include the CVE-2020-8696 security fix.
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 dataApply Intel processor microcode updates and corresponding BIOS/firmware updates from system vendors. This is a hardware-level vulnerability requiring firmware/microcode patches rather than software-only fixes.
Fix this in Fedora
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $6,176.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-8696 — 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-2020-8696 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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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.
- 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