Debian LinuxOperating system · Debian
CVE-2021-0089
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 · uneditedObservable response discrepancy in some Intel(R) Processors may allow an authorized 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 confidenceObservable response discrepancy vulnerability in Intel processors allows an authenticated local user to potentially disclose information through timing or side-channel analysis. This is a local privilege attack requiring physical or console access.
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
= 10.0
FedoraOperating system
= 33= 34all 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
- Changed
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/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 Intel processor in the systemRun 'lscpu' or check /proc/cpuinfo to confirm the CPU vendor is Intel and note the processor model (Pentium, Celeron, Xeon, Core, or Itanium)Affected if The system uses any Intel Pentium, Celeron, Xeon, Core, or Itanium processor
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Determine current processor firmware or microcode versionOn Linux, check /sys/devices/system/cpu/microcode/version or use 'dmesg | grep microcode' to see loaded microcode version. On Windows, check via 'wmic cpu get version' or BIOS informationAffected if The microcode version cannot be determined or shows an outdated version prior to Intel's patch
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Check BIOS or UEFI firmware versionAccess system BIOS/UEFI setup during boot or use tools like 'dmidecode -s bios-version' on Linux or 'msinfo32' on Windows to retrieve the BIOS versionAffected if The BIOS/UEFI firmware has not been updated to include the Intel microcode fix for CVE-2021-0089
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Verify if running affected Linux distribution versionsCheck OS version: 'cat /etc/os-release' or 'uname -a' to confirm if running Debian 10.0 or Fedora 33 or 34Affected if The system runs Debian 10.0, Fedora 33, or Fedora 34 with an unpatched Intel processor firmware
A user is affected if their system contains an Intel processor (Pentium, Celeron, Xeon, Core, or Itanium) and the firmware/microcode has not been updated to address CVE-2021-0089, particularly on Debian 10.0 or Fedora 33/34.
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/firmware updates and system BIOS/UEFI updates from Intel to address the observable response discrepancy.
Fix this in Debian Linux
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $5,120.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-0089 — 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-2021-0089 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