CVE-2019-0089

Vulnerability

An improper data sanitization vulnerability exists in a subsystem of Intel Server Platform Services (SPS) firmware. Affected versions include SPS_E5 before 04.00.04.381.0, SPS_E3 before 04.01.04.054.0, SPS_SoC-A before 04.00.04.181.0, and SPS_SoC-X before 04.00.04.086.0 [1]. The issue arises from insufficient validation of data passed to a subsystem, potentially allowing memory corruption or logic flaws.

Exploitation

An attacker must have local access to the system and possess elevated privileges (e.g., administrative or root-level access) to exploit this vulnerability. No user interaction is required beyond the attacker’s own actions. The exact exploitation steps are not publicly detailed, but the privileged user can trigger the sanitization flaw to corrupt memory or bypass security checks [1].

Impact

Successful exploitation allows the attacker to escalate their privileges further, potentially gaining full control over the platform. The compromise could lead to unauthorized access to sensitive data, modification of system firmware settings, or denial-of-service conditions. The impact is confined to the affected Intel SPS subsystem but may enable broader system-level compromise [1].

Mitigation

The vulnerability is fixed in Intel SPS firmware versions SPS_E5_04.00.04.381.0, SPS_E3_04.01.04.054.0, SPS_SoC-A_04.00.04.181.0, and SPS_SoC-X_04.00.04.086.0. Users should update to these or later versions via their system vendor’s firmware update process [1]. No workarounds are documented; the only mitigation is applying the patch. The CVE is not listed in CISA’s Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog as of the publication date.