CVE-2026-20901 Privilege escalation in Intel(R) Xeon(R) processors
A local attacker with privileged access can exploit improper input validation in Intel Xeon firmware to escalate privileges and alter data.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- An administrator
- Attackable
- Local or same network only
- Victim action needed
- Not needed
- Fix
- Available
What is CVE-2026-20901?
CVE-2026-20901 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Intel(R) Xeon(R) processors, published on 11 Aug 2026. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Official description
Improper input validation for some Intel(R) Xeon(R) processors within firmware may allow an escalation of privilege. Startup code and smm adversary with a privileged user combined with a high complexity attack may enable data alteration. This result may potentially occur via local access when attack requirements are present without special internal knowledge and requires no user interaction. The potential vulnerability may impact the confidentiality (none), integrity (none) and availability (none) of the vulnerable system, resulting in subsequent system confidentiality (none), integrity (high) and availability (none) impacts.
Weakness: CWE-20
Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-20901?
It affects 141 products.
Products include Intel Xeon Bronze 3408u, Intel Xeon Bronze 3408u Firmware, Intel Xeon Bronze 3508u Firmware, Intel Xeon Gold 5403n Firmware, Intel Xeon Gold 5411n, Intel Xeon Gold 5411n Firmware and 135 more.
How do I fix CVE-2026-20901?
Apply the vendor's patch.
Is CVE-2026-20901 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-20901 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Sources
Also known as BELL-CVE-2026-20901, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-20901, GHSA-j38j-4xcw-8784, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-20901.