CVE-2024-36350 is a transient execution vulnerability classified under CWE-1421, which involves the exposure of sensitive information through shared microarchitectural structures during speculative execution in AMD EPYC 7003 Series processors. Transient execution vulnerabilities exploit the CPU’s speculative execution mechanisms to access data that should be inaccessible during normal execution. In this case, an attacker with low privileges but local access can infer data from previous store operations by leveraging side-channel analysis of microarchitectural states. The vulnerability does not allow modification of data (integrity) or denial of service (availability) but compromises confidentiality by leaking privileged information. The attack complexity is high, requiring detailed knowledge of the processor’s microarchitecture and precise timing measurements. No user interaction is needed, and the vulnerability affects the processor’s internal buffers or caches that transiently hold data during execution. Although no known exploits are currently reported in the wild, the potential for sensitive data leakage in multi-tenant or shared environments such as cloud servers is significant. The CVSS 3.1 base score is 5.6, reflecting medium severity due to the limited attack vector (local access) and high complexity. No patches or microcode updates have been publicly released yet, but AMD is expected to address the issue through firmware or microcode updates. Until mitigations are available, risk reduction relies on limiting local access and monitoring for suspicious activity.

For European organizations, particularly those operating data centers, cloud services, or critical infrastructure using AMD EPYC 7003 processors, this vulnerability poses a confidentiality risk. Attackers with local access—such as malicious insiders, compromised virtual machines, or attackers exploiting other vulnerabilities to gain local code execution—could potentially extract sensitive information from privileged contexts. This risk is heightened in multi-tenant cloud environments common in Europe, where data leakage between tenants could violate data protection regulations such as GDPR. Although the vulnerability does not affect integrity or availability, the exposure of sensitive data could lead to further attacks, intellectual property theft, or compliance violations. Organizations relying heavily on AMD EPYC 7003 CPUs for server workloads in sectors like finance, government, healthcare, and telecommunications may face increased risk. The absence of known exploits reduces immediate threat but does not eliminate the need for proactive mitigation. The medium severity score suggests a moderate but non-trivial impact, emphasizing the importance of timely patching and access controls.

1. Monitor AMD’s security advisories closely for the release of microcode or firmware updates addressing CVE-2024-36350 and apply them promptly. 2. Restrict local access to systems running AMD EPYC 7003 processors by enforcing strict access controls, network segmentation, and least privilege principles to reduce the attack surface. 3. In virtualized or cloud environments, isolate workloads and tenants to minimize the risk of cross-VM data leakage. 4. Employ runtime monitoring and anomaly detection to identify suspicious local activities that could indicate exploitation attempts. 5. Review and harden system configurations to limit the ability of low-privilege users to execute code or perform timing attacks. 6. Consider disabling or limiting features that enable speculative execution if supported by the platform and if performance impact is acceptable. 7. Educate system administrators and security teams about the nature of transient execution attacks to improve detection and response capabilities. 8. Incorporate this vulnerability into risk assessments and incident response plans to ensure preparedness. 9. Evaluate the use of hardware-based security features such as AMD’s Secure Encrypted Virtualization (SEV) to add layers of protection against data leakage.