Out-of-bounds WriteWeakness · CWE-787

CVE-2023-49614

MEDIUM · 5.7 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-05-16
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
59/100
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
Out of bounds write in firmware for some Intel(R) FPGA products before version 2.9.0 may allow escalation of privilege and information disclosure.

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 confidence

An out-of-bounds write vulnerability in Intel FPGA firmware before version 2.9.0 allows writing data beyond allocated memory boundaries, which can be exploited to achieve privilege escalation and disclose sensitive information.

MitigationUpdate Intel FPGA firmware to version 2.9.0 or later to address the vulnerability.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

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
High
Privileges
High
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/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 Intel FPGA device in use
    Locate the FPGA hardware in your environment and determine the specific Intel FPGA model (e.g., Intel Stratix, Intel Arria, Intel Cyclone). Check system inventory, hardware documentation, or BIOS/UEFI information for the FPGA device identifier.
    Affected if The system contains any Intel FPGA hardware.
  2. Retrieve installed FPGA firmware version
    Use Intel Quartus Prime software, Intel FPGA Management Shell, or the FPGA management interface (BMC/IPMI for programmable cards) to query the current firmware version. Command examples: `quartus_pgm --version` or via BMC: `ipmitool fru print` for FPGA cards. Consult vendor documentation for model-specific commands.
    Affected if Unable to determine firmware version or version is displayed.
  3. Compare firmware version to affected range
    Check the retrieved firmware version against version 2.9.0. Versions before 2.9.0 are affected (e.g., 2.8.x, 2.7.x, etc.). If the firmware version matches 2.9.0 or later, the system is not vulnerable.
    Affected if Installed firmware version is below 2.9.0.
  4. Verify if firmware is actively used
    Confirm the FPGA is provisioned and running the vulnerable firmware image in the production environment. Some deployments may have FPGA hardware present but not actively programmed with the vulnerable firmware.
    Affected if FPGA is powered on and running firmware below version 2.9.0.

The environment is affected if Intel FPGA firmware version is below 2.9.0 and the FPGA device is actively running that firmware.

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

Update Intel FPGA firmware to version 2.9.0 or later to address the vulnerability.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

Intel FPGA firmware version 2.9.0 or later

  1. Identify the specific Intel FPGA product model in use
  2. Navigate to the Intel FPGA download page or support portal
  3. Locate and download firmware version 2.9.0 or later for the identified product
  4. Review the firmware update instructions specific to the FPGA product
  5. Apply the firmware update following Intel's standard firmware flashing procedure
  6. Verify the firmware version has been successfully updated to 2.9.0 or later
Caveat Firmware updates may require device downtime and should be tested in a non-production environment first; ensure backup of current firmware configuration before updating

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

Have this fixed Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
18.0 hours of engineering $3,200
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Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-49614 — 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 sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2023-49614 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