February 17, 2023
Intel’s Software Guard Extensions (SGX) were recently discovered to have multiple security flaws that could be exploited by hackers. These flaws could allow attackers to gain access to sensitive information, circumvent security measures, and engage in other malicious activities. Intel has released firmware updates to address these vulnerabilities and advises users to do so as soon as possible.
The vulnerabilities were discovered at a time when Intel was already being investigated for other security flaws. The security flaws affect a variety of Intel products, including Xeon processors, network adapters, and software. As of February 14, there were 31 advisories added to the Intel Security Center, and the patch addressed five CVE-listed SGX-related security holes.
Two of the SGX flaws involve potential privilege escalation, which could result in information disclosure, which is unfortunate for a feature that is supposed to enable secure processing of sensitive data inside encrypted memory areas known as enclaves.
CVE-2022-38090 has a medium severity rating and affects a variety of Intel processors, including the 3rd Generation Xeon Scalable server chips, which were only recently superseded by the 4th Generation “Sapphire Rapids” products. When using Intel Software Guard Extensions, improper isolation of shared resources in some Intel Processors may allow a privileged user to potentially enable information disclosure via local access. This explains the flaw.
While CVE-2022-33196 has a high severity rating, it also affects 3rd Gen Xeon Scalable chips and Xeon D Processors. It is revealed when using Intel Software Guard Extensions, incorrect default permissions in some memory controller configurations for some Intel Xeon Processors may allow a privileged user to potentially enable privilege escalation via local access.
Others include high-rated escalation of privilege bugs in Intel Server Platform Services (SPS) firmware (CVE-2022-36348) and CVE-2022-21216, which may allow a privileged user to enable escalation of privilege via adjacent network access due to insufficient access control granularity in out-of-band management.
The sources for this piece include an article TheRegister.
