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Quickassist TechnologyApplication · Intel

CVE-2026-20767

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2026-05-12
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 1.13.0-0021 or later.
See remediation →
80/100
Remediation priority · High
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
Improper input validation for some Intel(R) QAT software drivers for Windows before version 1.13 within Ring 3: User Applications may allow an escalation of privilege. Unprivileged software adversary with an authenticated user combined with a low complexity attack may enable escalation of privilege. This result may potentially occur via local access when attack requirements are not present without special internal knowledge and requires no user interaction. The potential vulnerability may impact the confidentiality (high), integrity (high) and availability (high) of the vulnerable system, resulting in subsequent system confidentiality (none), integrity (none) and availability (none) 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 · high confidence

Improper input validation in Intel QAT (QuickAssist Technology) software drivers for Windows before version 1.13 allows unprivileged authenticated users to escalate privileges via local access. The vulnerability exists in Ring 3 (user-mode) components where insufficient input validation can be exploited to gain elevated privileges without user interaction.

MitigationUpdate Intel QAT software drivers to version 1.13 or later to remediate the input validation vulnerability. Apply the update through standard vendor patch management processes and verify driver functionality post-update.

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
Quickassist TechnologyApplication
Affected:< 1.13.0-0021

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
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/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. Verify Intel QAT driver installation
    Open Device Manager, expand 'System devices' or search for 'Intel QAT' or 'QuickAssist' to see if the driver is present. Alternatively, run 'driverquery /v | findstr -i QAT' from an elevated command prompt.
    Affected if No Intel QAT driver is found, the system is not affected by this vulnerability.
  2. Retrieve installed Intel QAT driver version
    In Device Manager, right-click the Intel QAT device, select 'Properties', go to the 'Driver' tab, and note the Driver Version. Alternatively, check the driver file properties of qat driver files in System32\drivers or check the Intel QAT software installation directory for version information.
    Affected if The driver version cannot be determined or is not visible, assume it may be affected and continue to further verification.
  3. Compare version against vulnerable range
    Compare the installed driver version to the affected range: versions prior to 1.13.0-0021 are vulnerable. If the version is 1.13.0-0021 or later, the system is not affected.
    Affected if The installed version is lower than 1.13.0-0021, the system is likely affected by this vulnerability.
  4. Check if QAT service or user-mode component is active
    Open Services (services.msc) and look for Intel QAT-related services (such as 'Intel(R) QAT' or similar). Check if the service is running or set to start. Also verify whether any applications are actively using QAT functionality.
    Affected if The Intel QAT user-mode components are actively running or loaded, the vulnerability is present and could be exploited if the version is vulnerable.

A system is affected if Intel QAT driver software for Windows is installed with a version lower than 1.13.0-0021 and the user-mode components are active.

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
Upgrade available Upgrade to 1.13.0-0021 or later
Fixed in 1.13.0-0021
Interim mitigation

Update Intel QAT software drivers to version 1.13 or later to remediate the input validation vulnerability. Apply the update through standard vendor patch management processes and verify driver functionality post-update.

Recommended fix High confidence

1.13.0-0021 or later

  1. Download Intel QuickAssist Technology software version 1.13.0-0021 or later from the official Intel website
  2. Install the updated QAT driver software following Intel's installation documentation
  3. Verify the installed version matches or exceeds 1.13.0-0021
  4. Reboot the system if required by the installation process

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

Fix this in Quickassist Technology Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
16.0 hours of engineering $2,840
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $4,544.

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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-2026-20767 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

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What belongs here
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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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