CVE-2020-8712

Vulnerability

A buffer overflow vulnerability exists in the verification process of firmware for some Intel® Server Boards, Server Systems, and Compute Modules. Affected versions are those before firmware version 2.45. The flaw resides in code that handles verification of certain inputs, allowing an overflow to occur under specific conditions. An attacker must have local authenticated access to the target system to reach the vulnerable code path. [1]

Exploitation

Exploitation requires an authenticated user to have local access to the affected server platform. The attacker would need to trigger the buffer overflow during a firmware verification process, which can be achieved by providing specially crafted input that exceeds the expected size. No user interaction beyond authentication is required, but the attacker must be able to interact with the system’s firmware interface or related utilities. [1]

Impact

Successful exploitation enables an authenticated local attacker to escalate privileges on the affected system. This could allow the attacker to gain elevated execution privileges, potentially leading to full control over the platform, including the ability to execute arbitrary code with higher privileges or bypass security restrictions. [1]

Mitigation

Intel has released firmware version 2.45 to address this vulnerability. Users should update the firmware on affected Intel® Server Boards, Server Systems, and Compute Modules to version 2.45 or later. No workarounds are provided, and there is no indication that this CVE has been added to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog as of the publication date. [1]