CVE-2023-20575
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 · uneditedA potential power side-channel vulnerability in some AMD processors may allow an authenticated attacker to use the power reporting functionality to monitor a program’s execution inside an AMD SEV VM potentially resulting in a leak of sensitive information.
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 confidenceThis is a power side-channel vulnerability in AMD processors affecting the Secure Encrypted Virtualization (SEV) feature. An authenticated attacker with access to the system can exploit the power reporting functionality to monitor program execution inside an AMD SEV VM, potentially leaking sensitive information through power consumption analysis.
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 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
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/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 check system BIOS/hardware inventory to identify the exact AMD Epyc processor model numberAffected if The processor model is one of: Amd Epyc 7251, 7281, 7301, 7351, 7351p, 7401, 7401p, or 7451
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Verify SEV is enabledCheck if Secure Encrypted Virtualization (SEV) is active on the system. On Linux, this can be done by checking /sys/module/kvm_amd/parameters/sev or by querying the hypervisor (such as 'virsh domcapabilities' for KVM) for SEV supportAffected if SEV is enabled and the processor from step 1 is in the affected list
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Check if SEV VMs are runningQuery the hypervisor to list active virtual machines using SEV encryption. For KVM, use 'virsh list --all' combined with domain XML inspection for sev element presenceAffected if There are active SEV-encrypted VMs running on an affected processor
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Verify firmware versionCheck the system BIOS/firmware version for the AMD Epyc processor. This is typically available via 'dmidecode', BIOS settings, or the hypervisor management interfaceAffected if The firmware version cannot be updated AND the processor and SEV configuration match steps 1-3
You are affected if you are running any of the listed AMD Epyc processor models (7251, 7281, 7301, 7351, 7351p, 7401, 7401p, 7451) with SEV enabled and active virtual machines, since all firmware versions of these processors are vulnerable.
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 AMD processor firmware/microcode updates and BIOS updates as released. If updates are unavailable, consider whether SEV can be disabled for affected VMs or assess risk based on attacker proximity requirements.
- 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-2023-20575 — 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-2023-20575 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
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