# CVE-2020-8703: Privilege escalation in Intel(R) CSME versions

> A privileged local attacker can exploit improper buffer restrictions in Intel CSME to escalate privileges.

- **Severity:** Medium 6.7 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** An administrator
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 9 Jun 2021
- **Updated:** 4 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-vqjv-932p-6v65

## What is CVE-2020-8703?

CVE-2020-8703 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Netapp Cloud Backup, published on 9 Jun 2021. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

Improper buffer restrictions in a subsystem in the Intel(R) CSME versions before 11.8.86, 11.12.86, 11.22.86, 12.0.81, 13.0.47, 13.30.17, 14.1.53, 14.5.32 and 15.0.22 may allow a privileged user to potentially enable escalation of privilege via local access.

Weakness: CWE-119 (Improper Restriction of Operations within the Bounds of a Memory Buffer)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2020-8703?

It affects 14 products.


Products: Intel Converged Security and Manageability Engine, Netapp Cloud Backup, Siemens Simatic Field Pg M5 Firmware, Siemens Simatic Field Pg M6 Firmware, Siemens Simatic Ipc427e Firmware, Siemens Simatic Ipc477e Firmware, Siemens Simatic Ipc477e Pro Firmware, Siemens Simatic Ipc527g Firmware, Siemens Simatic Ipc547g Firmware, Siemens Simatic Ipc627e Firmware, Siemens Simatic Ipc647e Firmware, Siemens Simatic Ipc677e Firmware, Siemens Simatic Ipc847e Firmware, Siemens Simatic Itp1000 Firmware.

## How do I fix CVE-2020-8703?

No fix has been published for CVE-2020-8703 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2020-8703 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2020-8703 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Netapp Cloud Backup

- [CVE-2020-12297](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-12297/): Privilege escalation in Intel(R) CSME, Intel TXE (high 7.8)
- [CVE-2020-12303](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-12303/): Use after free in Intel(R) CSME, Intel(R) TXE (high 7.8)
- [CVE-2020-24516](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-24516/): Privilege escalation in Intel(R) CSME versions (medium 6.8)
- [CVE-2020-8705](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-8705/): Misconfiguration in Intel(R) Boot Guard, Intel(R) CSME, Intel(R) TXE, Intel(R) SPS (medium 6.8)
- [CVE-2020-8745](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-8745/): Privilege escalation in Intel(R) CSME, Intel(R) TXE (medium 6.8)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2020-8703 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2020-8703 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Netapp Cloud Backup, published on 9 Jun 2021. 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-2020-8703 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Netapp Cloud Backup. 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-2020-8703/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-8703/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2020-8703
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2020-8703
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2020-8703

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From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-8703/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.