# CVE-2018-12171: Privilege escalation in Intel(R) Baseboard Management Controller (BMC) firmware

> Unprivileged users can escalate privileges to execute arbitrary code or cause denial of service in Intel BMC firmware.

- **Severity:** Critical 9.8 (`CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 12 Sep 2018
- **Updated:** 16 Sep 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-j5h2-3r9v-6fhh

## What is CVE-2018-12171?

CVE-2018-12171 is a critical vulnerability in Intel(R) Baseboard Management Controller (BMC) firmware, published on 12 Sep 2018. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

Privilege escalation in Intel Baseboard Management Controller (BMC) firmware before version 1.43.91f76955 may allow an unprivileged user to potentially execute arbitrary code or perform denial of service over the network.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2018-12171?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Intel Bmc Firmware.

## How do I fix CVE-2018-12171?

No fix has been published for CVE-2018-12171 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2018-12171 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2018-12171 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Intel(R) Baseboard Management Controller (BMC) firmware

- [CVE-2020-11483](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-11483/): Hardcoded credentials in NVIDIA DGX Servers (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2020-11486](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-11486/): File upload in NVIDIA DGX Servers (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2020-11485](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-11485/): Cross-site request forgery in NVIDIA DGX Servers (high 8.8)
- [CVE-2018-3682](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-3682/): Privilege escalation in Intel Server Boards, Compute Modules and Systems (high 8.2)
- [CVE-2020-12377](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-12377/): Privilege escalation in Intel(R) Server Boards, Server Systems and Compute Modules (high 7.8)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2018-12171 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2018-12171 is a critical vulnerability in Intel(R) Baseboard Management Controller (BMC) firmware, published on 12 Sep 2018. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2018-12171 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Intel(R) Baseboard Management Controller (BMC) firmware. 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-2018-12171/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-12171/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2018-12171
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2018-12171
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2018-12171

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From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-12171/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.