CVE-2024-36348 is a vulnerability classified under CWE-1420 that affects AMD EPYC 7002 Series processors. It arises from a transient execution flaw, where speculative execution allows a local user process to infer control register values speculatively, even when the User-Mode Instruction Prevention (UMIP) feature is enabled. UMIP is designed to prevent user-mode code from accessing certain control registers, but this vulnerability bypasses that protection during speculative execution. The speculative inference of control registers can lead to exposure of sensitive information, potentially aiding attackers in further exploitation or reconnaissance. The vulnerability requires local privileges (PR:L) and has low attack complexity (AC:L), but no user interaction (UI:N) is needed. The scope is changed (S:C) because the speculative leakage can cross privilege boundaries. The impact is limited to confidentiality (C:L) with no effect on integrity or availability. No public exploits or patches are currently available, and AMD has reserved the CVE since May 2024. This vulnerability is particularly relevant in multi-tenant environments such as cloud data centers where untrusted code might run alongside sensitive workloads. The lack of patches means mitigation currently relies on operational controls and monitoring.

For European organizations, especially those operating cloud services, data centers, or high-performance computing environments using AMD EPYC 7002 processors, this vulnerability could lead to leakage of sensitive control register information. While the direct impact is low, the leaked data could be leveraged in chained attacks to bypass security controls or escalate privileges. Confidentiality breaches could affect sensitive workloads, intellectual property, or cryptographic operations relying on processor state secrecy. The risk is heightened in shared infrastructure environments common in Europe’s cloud and enterprise sectors. However, since exploitation requires local access and no known exploits exist, the immediate threat is limited. Organizations handling critical infrastructure or sensitive data should consider this vulnerability in their risk assessments and incident response plans.

1. Monitor AMD and relevant OS vendors for microcode and firmware updates addressing this vulnerability and apply them promptly once available. 2. Restrict local code execution privileges to trusted users and processes to reduce the risk of local exploitation. 3. Employ strict containerization and virtualization isolation to limit speculative execution exposure between tenants. 4. Use security features such as Kernel Page-Table Isolation (KPTI) and other OS-level mitigations that reduce speculative execution side-channel risks. 5. Conduct regular audits of local user activities and privilege escalations to detect potential exploitation attempts. 6. Harden system configurations to minimize unnecessary local access and disable unneeded services that could be exploited to run code locally. 7. Engage with hardware and software vendors for guidance on best practices specific to AMD EPYC 7002 processors in your environment.