CVE-2017-5753 in Communications LSMS
Summary
by MITRE
Systems with microprocessors utilizing speculative execution and branch prediction may allow unauthorized disclosure of information to an attacker with local user access via a side-channel analysis.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 05/29/2026
This vulnerability represents a critical side-channel flaw in modern microprocessors that leverage speculative execution and branch prediction mechanisms to enhance performance. The vulnerability stems from the way processors handle conditional branches during speculative execution, where the processor predicts the outcome of conditional instructions and begins executing instructions before the actual branch decision is resolved. This design optimization creates a window where sensitive data can be inadvertently exposed through cache timing variations, allowing local attackers to reconstruct confidential information through careful analysis of cache access patterns.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability involves the processor's branch predictor incorrectly maintaining state information about speculative execution paths, which can persist in the cache even after the speculative execution completes. When an attacker executes carefully crafted code that triggers conditional branches, they can observe timing differences in cache access patterns to infer the values of data that should have remained confidential. This occurs because the processor's cache hierarchy maintains information about memory accesses that occurred during speculative execution, creating observable side channels that leak information about the processor's internal state.
The operational impact of CVE-2017-5753 extends beyond simple information disclosure, as it affects virtually all modern processors from major manufacturers including intel, amd, and arm. Attackers with local user access can exploit this vulnerability to extract sensitive data such as cryptographic keys, passwords, and other confidential information from memory locations that should be protected. The vulnerability affects operating systems, hypervisors, and virtualized environments, making it particularly dangerous in cloud computing scenarios where multiple tenants share the same physical hardware. This type of vulnerability falls under the CWE-200 category for exposure of sensitive information and aligns with the ATT&CK technique T1059.001 for command and scripting interpreter, as attackers often use legitimate system tools to exploit these side-channel weaknesses.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability require comprehensive system-level patches and microcode updates that modify the processor's behavior to prevent the leakage of information through speculative execution. These mitigations typically involve disabling or modifying branch prediction behavior, implementing additional memory access controls, and modifying kernel-level memory management to prevent speculative execution from accessing sensitive data. Organizations must implement layered security approaches including kernel patches, hypervisor updates, and application-level protections to fully address the vulnerability. The remediation process requires careful consideration of performance impacts, as many of the mitigations can significantly reduce system performance, particularly in virtualized environments where the overhead of these protections can be substantial. System administrators should also implement monitoring solutions to detect potential exploitation attempts and regularly update their systems to ensure protection against variants of this vulnerability that may be discovered in the future.