CVE-2022-24378 is a medium-severity vulnerability identified in Intel(R) Data Center Manager (DCM) software versions prior to 4.1. The flaw arises from improper initialization within the software, which can be exploited by an authenticated user with local access to cause a denial of service (DoS) condition. Specifically, the vulnerability does not impact confidentiality or integrity but affects availability by potentially disrupting the normal operation of the Intel DCM software. Intel DCM is a management tool designed to provide monitoring and control capabilities for data center infrastructure, including power, thermal, and hardware health metrics. The improper initialization likely leads to a state where the software becomes unresponsive or crashes, thereby denying legitimate users the ability to manage or monitor data center resources effectively. Exploitation requires local access and authenticated privileges, which limits the attack surface to insiders or users who have already gained some level of system access. No user interaction is necessary beyond authentication, and there are no known exploits in the wild as of the published date. The vulnerability is tracked under CWE-665 (Improper Initialization), indicating a failure to properly set up internal software state before use, which can lead to unpredictable behavior such as crashes or resource exhaustion. The CVSS v3.1 base score is 5.5, reflecting a medium severity level due to the limited scope and requirement for local authenticated access.

For European organizations, the impact of this vulnerability primarily concerns the availability and reliability of data center management operations. Intel DCM is used in enterprise and cloud data centers to optimize power and thermal management, which is critical for maintaining operational efficiency and preventing hardware damage. A denial of service in this context could lead to temporary loss of monitoring and control capabilities, potentially causing delayed responses to hardware faults or overheating conditions. This could increase operational risks and downtime, especially in environments with high-density computing resources. While the vulnerability does not directly expose sensitive data or allow privilege escalation, the disruption of management tools can indirectly affect service continuity and operational stability. Organizations with strict uptime requirements, such as financial institutions, telecommunications providers, and cloud service operators in Europe, may experience operational challenges if this vulnerability is exploited. However, the requirement for local authenticated access reduces the likelihood of remote exploitation, limiting the threat mainly to insiders or compromised accounts.

European organizations should prioritize upgrading Intel Data Center Manager software to version 4.1 or later, where this vulnerability is addressed. In environments where immediate patching is not feasible, organizations should enforce strict access controls to limit local authenticated access to trusted administrators only. Implementing robust authentication mechanisms, such as multi-factor authentication (MFA), can reduce the risk of unauthorized access. Monitoring and logging local user activities on systems running Intel DCM can help detect suspicious behavior indicative of exploitation attempts. Additionally, organizations should conduct regular audits of user privileges and remove unnecessary local accounts or restrict their permissions. Network segmentation and host-based firewalls can further limit lateral movement within data center environments, reducing the risk that an attacker with limited access can reach systems running vulnerable versions of Intel DCM. Finally, organizations should maintain an incident response plan that includes procedures for handling denial of service incidents affecting critical management infrastructure.