# CVE-2018-12131: Privilege escalation in Intel NVMe and Intel RSTe

> An authenticated local user can escalate privileges due to insecure permissions in Intel NVMe and RSTe driver installers.

- **Severity:** High 7.8 (`CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 10 Oct 2018
- **Updated:** 17 Sep 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-x3c3-p7r9-v37w

## What is CVE-2018-12131?

CVE-2018-12131 is a high-severity vulnerability in Intel NVMe and Intel RSTe, published on 10 Oct 2018. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

Permissions in the driver pack installers for Intel NVMe before version 4.0.0.1007 and Intel RSTe before version 4.7.0.2083 may allow an authenticated user to potentially escalate privilege via local access.

Weakness: CWE-732 (Incorrect Permission Assignment for Critical Resource)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2018-12131?

It affects 3 products.


Products: Intel Client Nvme, Intel Datacenter Nvme, Intel Rapid Storage Technology.

## How do I fix CVE-2018-12131?

No fix has been published for CVE-2018-12131 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2018-12131 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2018-12131 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2018-12131 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2018-12131 is a high-severity vulnerability in Intel NVMe and Intel RSTe, published on 10 Oct 2018. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2018-12131 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Intel NVMe and Intel RSTe. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-12131/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-12131/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2018-12131
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2018-12131
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2018-12131

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From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-12131/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.