CVE-2018-3682 in Server Board
Summary
by MITRE
BMC Firmware in Intel server boards, compute modules, and systems potentially allow an attacker with administrative privileges to make unauthorized read\writes to the SMBUS.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 03/02/2020
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2018-3682 affects BMC (Baseboard Management Controller) firmware across Intel server boards, compute modules, and systems, representing a significant security weakness in enterprise infrastructure components. This flaw specifically targets the SMBUS (System Management Bus) interface, which serves as a critical communication pathway for system management functions and hardware monitoring. The vulnerability arises from insufficient privilege validation within the BMC firmware implementation, creating an exploitable condition where authenticated administrative users can bypass normal access controls to perform unauthorized read and write operations on the SMBUS.
The technical nature of this vulnerability stems from improper access control mechanisms within the BMC firmware that governs the SMBUS interface. The SMBUS is a two-wire interface used for communication between the system management controller and various hardware components including sensors, batteries, and other system management devices. When an attacker gains administrative access to the BMC, they can leverage this vulnerability to directly manipulate SMBUS registers and devices, potentially compromising system integrity and security monitoring capabilities. This issue represents a privilege escalation vulnerability that allows for unauthorized system manipulation through the management interface.
The operational impact of CVE-2018-3682 extends beyond simple unauthorized access, as it enables attackers to potentially disrupt system operations, manipulate hardware monitoring data, and gain deeper insights into system configuration and status. The vulnerability could allow for persistent access to critical system management functions, enabling attackers to modify hardware settings, disable security features, or even compromise the integrity of system firmware updates. This poses significant risks to enterprise environments where BMC access is often considered a trusted administrative interface, making the exploitation of such vulnerabilities particularly dangerous for organizations relying on Intel server infrastructure.
From a cybersecurity perspective, this vulnerability aligns with CWE-284 (Improper Access Control) and represents a classic case of insufficient privilege validation in management interfaces. The ATT&CK framework categorizes this as a privilege escalation technique where adversaries leverage administrative access to gain deeper system control. Organizations should implement immediate mitigations including firmware updates from Intel, network segmentation of BMC interfaces, and strict access control policies limiting administrative privileges to only necessary personnel. Additionally, monitoring for unauthorized BMC access attempts and implementing robust authentication mechanisms can help detect and prevent exploitation of this vulnerability in production environments.