CVE-2020-8740
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 · uneditedOut of bounds write in Intel BIOS platform sample code for some Intel(R) Processors 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 · moderate confidenceA memory corruption vulnerability exists in Intel BIOS platform sample code shipped with certain Intel processors. The flaw is an out-of-bounds write that occurs in the BIOS firmware, allowing a locally authenticated privileged user to potentially escalate privileges by writing to unintended memory locations.
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 dataall versionsall 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
- 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.
-
Check the system BIOS versionRun 'dmidecode -s bios-version' on Linux or 'wmic bios get smbiosbiosversion' on Windows to retrieve the installed BIOS firmware versionAffected if The BIOS version cannot be determined or returns a value (all versions of Intel BIOS and listed NetApp BIOS products are affected)
-
Identify the BIOS vendorRun 'dmidecode -s bios-vendor' on Linux or 'wmic bios get manufacturer' on Windows to identify the BIOS firmware providerAffected if The vendor is Intel Corporation, NetApp, or a NetApp OEM partner supplying the listed product BIOSes (Aff, Fas, Hci Compute, Hci Storage, Solidfire)
-
Check the system processorRun 'lscpu' on Linux or 'wmic cpu get name' on Windows to identify the Intel processor model, or check system documentation for the processor generationAffected if The system uses an Intel processor from a generation that includes the affected BIOS sample code platform (this affects Intel processors that ship with the vulnerable BIOS sample code)
-
Verify the BIOS is the affected platformCheck system manufacturer documentation or run 'dmidecode -s system-product-name' to identify the specific NetApp model if applicableAffected if The system is a NetApp Aff, Fas, Hci Compute Node, Hci Storage Node, or Solidfire device running the vendor's BIOS firmware
If the system runs Intel BIOS firmware or NetApp-branded BIOS firmware on the listed products, it is affected since all versions of these BIOS implementations contain the vulnerable code.
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 firmware updates and corresponding BIOS updates from the system manufacturer (OEM). This is a firmware-level issue requiring BIOS/UEFI updates rather than software patches.
- Consultation8.0 h
- Implementation16.0 h
- Testing12.0 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 $11,200.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-8740 — 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-2020-8740 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
Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.
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