CVE-2024-39811

Root

Cause

CVE-2024-39811 is caused by improper input validation in the firmware for certain Intel® Server M20NTP Family UEFI. This flaw resides in a component that handles privileged system management operations, allowing a malicious actor with local administrative access to bypass expected security checks.

Exploitation

An attacker must already have local access to the system and possess elevated privileges (e.g., administrator or root). From that position, the attacker can send specially crafted inputs to the UEFI interface. No network vector is required, and the attack complexity is low according to the CVSS v3 base score of 6.3.

Impact

Successful exploitation could enable privilege escalation within the firmware environment itself, potentially allowing the attacker to gain higher privileges than intended. This might lead to persistent system compromise, as firmware-level access can bypass operating-system security controls and survive reboots.

Mitigation

Intel has released firmware updates to address this vulnerability. Users are advised to consult the Intel Security Advisory INTEL-SA-01175 [1] and apply the recommended updates to affected Intel® Server M20NTP Family systems.