CVE-2022-21203
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 permissions in the SafeNet Sentinel driver for Intel(R) Quartus(R) Prime Standard Edition before version 21.1 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 · high confidenceThis is a local privilege escalation vulnerability in the SafeNet Sentinel driver component of Intel Quartus Prime Standard Edition. The driver has improper file or registry permissions that allow an authenticated local user to modify driver configuration or execute code with elevated privileges. This is a driver-level permission flaw rather than an application logic vulnerability.
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< 21.1CVSS 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
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/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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Check Intel Quartus Prime installationOpen Add or Remove Programs (appwiz.cpl) or check the installation directory for Intel Quartus Prime Standard Edition, and note the installed version numberAffected if The installed version is any version prior to 21.1
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Confirm SafeNet Sentinel driver componentLook for SafeNet Sentinel driver files, services, or registry entries related to the Sentinel protection system within the Quartus installation directory or system driver folderAffected if The SafeNet Sentinel driver component is present on the system
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Verify driver service permissionsCheck the permissions on the Sentinel driver service (commonly named something like 'Sentinel' or 'sntlkey' in services.msc) - right-click the service, select Properties, then check the Security tab to see if standard users have write or modify permissionsAffected if Authenticated users or non-admin accounts have modify or write access to the driver service configuration
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Check driver registry permissionsOpen regedit and navigate to HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Sentinel (or similar driver service key), right-click the key, select Permissions, and verify if standard users can modify settingsAffected if Users in the Authenticated Users group or regular users have write or modify permissions to the driver registry keys
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Inspect driver file permissionsLocate the Sentinel driver files (typically .sys files in Windows\System32\drivers or the Quartus program directory) and check their file permissions by right-clicking the file, selecting Properties, then the Security tabAffected if Standard user accounts have modify or write permissions on the driver executable files
A user is affected if Intel Quartus Prime Standard Edition is installed with a version below 21.1 AND the SafeNet Sentinel driver component is present with improper permissions allowing standard users to modify driver configuration.
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.
dbcve · scoped21.1
Upgrade Intel Quartus Prime Standard Edition to version 21.1 or later, which includes the patched SafeNet Sentinel driver with corrected permissions.
Quartus Prime Standard Edition 21.1
- Upgrade Intel Quartus Prime Standard Edition to version 21.1 or later to remediate the improper permissions vulnerability in the SafeNet Sentinel driver
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2022-21203 — 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-2022-21203 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
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data