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Use After FreeWeakness · CWE-416

CVE-2024-40885

MEDIUM · 6.4 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-11-13
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
66/100
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
Use after free in the UEFI firmware of some Intel(R) Server M20NTP BIOS may allow a privileged 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 · moderate confidence

Use-after-free vulnerability in UEFI firmware of Intel Server M20NTP BIOS. A privileged user with local access could potentially exploit freed memory to escalate privileges. This is a memory safety issue in the firmware layer that could allow arbitrary code execution with elevated privileges.

MitigationApply the Intel BIOS firmware update for the Server M20NTP to the patched version provided by Intel. Ensure proper backup and recovery mechanisms are in place before performing the firmware update.

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
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:H/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 checks

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

  1. Confirm Intel Server M20NTP system model
    Run 'dmidecode -s system-product-name' or check system documentation/labels to verify the hardware is an Intel Server M20NTP
    Affected if System is NOT an Intel Server M20NTP - the CVE applies specifically to this model
  2. Retrieve current BIOS firmware version
    Run 'dmidecode -s bios-version' or access BIOS setup (press F2 during boot) to view the BIOS version string
    Affected if Unable to retrieve BIOS version - firmware version cannot be verified
  3. Check UEFI/BIOS mode is enabled
    Verify the system boots in UEFI mode by running 'ls /sys/firmware/efi' or checking boot settings in BIOS setup
    Affected if System is not using UEFI/BIOS firmware (e.g., legacy BIOS only) - the vulnerability is in the UEFI firmware layer
  4. Compare installed BIOS version to fixed version
    Obtain the Intel-recommended fixed BIOS version from Intel's support site for Server M20NTP and compare it to the version retrieved in step 2
    Affected if Installed BIOS version is older than the Intel-patched version - system is vulnerable to use-after-free exploitation

A user is affected if they have an Intel Server M20NTP system running a BIOS version older than the Intel-patched version, with UEFI firmware enabled.

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.

From vendor data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Apply the Intel BIOS firmware update for the Server M20NTP to the patched version provided by Intel. Ensure proper backup and recovery mechanisms are in place before performing the firmware update.

Have this fixed Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
10.0 hours of engineering $1,770
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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-2024-40885 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