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Improper Input ValidationWeakness · CWE-20

CVE-2025-20096

MEDIUM · 5.9 CVSS v4.0 Published 2026-03-10
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

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
Improper input validation in the UEFI firmware for some Intel Reference Platforms may allow an escalation of privilege. System software adversary with a privileged user combined with a high complexity attack may enable data manipulation. This result may potentially occur via local access when attack requirements are present without special internal knowledge and requires active user interaction. The potential vulnerability may impact the confidentiality (none), integrity (high) and availability (high) of the vulnerable system, resulting in subsequent system confidentiality (none), integrity (high) and availability (high) impacts.

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

Improper input validation in UEFI firmware on Intel Reference Platforms allows a privileged user with local access to escalate privileges through a high-complexity attack requiring active user interaction, resulting in data manipulation and high integrity/availability impact.

MitigationApply Intel-provided UEFI firmware updates to affected platforms; this is the only effective remediation as the vulnerability exists in firmware code.

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
Authentication
X
User interaction
A
Scope
X

CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:H/AT:P/PR:H/UI:A/VC:N/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:H/SA:H/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X

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 system as an Intel Reference Platform
    Check system vendor and model information using 'dmidecode -s system-manufacturer' and 'dmidecode -s system-product-name' commands, or review system BIOS/UEFI setup screen for Intel Reference Platform designation
    Affected if System is an Intel Reference Platform with UEFI firmware
  2. Locate UEFI firmware version
    Access UEFI setup during boot (typically via F2 or Delete key), or use 'dmidecode -s bios-version' command, or check /sys/class/dmi/id/bios_version on Linux systems
    Affected if UEFI firmware version cannot be determined or is not displayed
  3. Retrieve UEFI firmware release date
    Check UEFI setup screen for 'BIOS Date' or 'Firmware Date', or use 'dmidecode -s bios-release-date' command
    Affected if UEFI firmware release date predates Intel's patch release for CVE-2025-20096 (specific dates vary by platform)
  4. Compare against Intel advisory versions
    Cross-reference installed UEFI firmware version and date against Intel's security advisory for CVE-2025-20096 on ark.intel.com or through Intel Platform Update (IPU) documentation
    Affected if Installed version matches or falls within the affected range published by Intel for this CVE
  5. Verify UEFI input validation configuration
    Review UEFI setup options for 'Variable Policy' or 'Secure Boot' settings if accessible; note that exploitation requires high-complexity attack with active user interaction
    Affected if Default UEFI configurations on affected platforms are vulnerable regardless of specific settings

A system is affected if it is an Intel Reference Platform running UEFI firmware with a version older than the fixed version specified in Intel's CVE-2025-20096 advisory.

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 Intel-provided UEFI firmware updates to affected platforms; this is the only effective remediation as the vulnerability exists in firmware code.

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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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-2025-20096 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
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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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