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Debian LinuxOperating system · Debian

CVE-2023-20588

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-08-08
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
57/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Zero-click

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 · unedited
A division-by-zero error on some AMD processors can potentially return speculative data resulting in loss of confidentiality. 

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 confidence

A division-by-zero error in the execution unit of certain AMD processors can cause speculative data to be returned, potentially exposing confidential information through speculative execution side channels.

MitigationApply AMD processor microcode/firmware updates (BIOS/UEFI updates) provided by AMD to patch the vulnerability on affected systems.

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
Affected:= 10.0= 11.0= 12.0
FedoraOperating system
Affected:= 37= 38= 39
Epyc 7351p FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Epyc 7401p FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Epyc 7551p FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Epyc 7251 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Epyc 7261 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Epyc 7281 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions

CVSS 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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify CPU model
    Run 'lscpu | grep -E "^(Model name|Vendor)"' or 'cat /proc/cpuinfo | grep -E "^model name|^vendor_id"' to see the processor installed
    Affected if The CPU is not an AMD Epyc processor from the 7000 series (specifically 7351p, 7401p, 7551p, 7251, 7261, or 7281)
  2. Verify affected Epyc model numbers
    Compare your Epyc model number against the affected list: 7351p, 7401p, 7551p, 7251, 7261, 7281. Use 'lscpu' to see the full model name
    Affected if The installed Epyc processor matches one of these specific models: 7351p, 7401p, 7551p, 7251, 7261, or 7281
  3. Check microcode version
    On Linux, check microcode version with 'dmesg | grep -i microcode' or read from '/sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu0/microcode/version' if available. On Windows, use 'wmic cpu get version' or check BIOS firmware version
    Affected if The microcode/firmware version is older than the patched version provided by AMD (no specific version number in CVE data, so any unpatched system is affected)

Your system is affected if you are running one of the specific AMD Epyc 7000 series processors (7351p, 7401p, 7551p, 7251, 7261, or 7281) with unpatched firmware or microcode.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

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 · scoped
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Apply AMD processor microcode/firmware updates (BIOS/UEFI updates) provided by AMD to patch the vulnerability on affected systems.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

AMD CPU firmware - obtain fixed firmware from AMD for your specific Epyc model

  1. Contact AMD for the latest CPU firmware/microcode update for your specific Epyc processor model (7351p, 7401p, 7551p, 7251, 7261, or 7281)
  2. Apply the AMD firmware update following AMD's published instructions for your server platform
  3. For Linux systems, ensure firmware updates are applied at boot time - verify microcode loading is enabled in bootloader configuration
  4. For Debian: Install amd64-microcode or linux-firmware packages if provided by Debian to include updated CPU microcode
  5. For Fedora: Ensure microcode_ctl package is installed and updated to receive CPU microcode updates
Caveat Firmware updates to CPU microcode carry minimal risk but should be tested in a staging environment first as they affect low-level processor behavior

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Debian Linux Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
14.0 hours of engineering $2,490
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Scan for this in your stack

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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2023-20588 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

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.

What belongs here
  • 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