CVE-2025-20053VulnerabilityPublished 12 Aug 2025Updated 26 Feb 2026

CVE-2025-20053: Intel(R) Xeon(R) Processor firmware with SGX enabled · Escalation of Privilege

Affects Intel(R) Xeon(R) Processor firmware with SGX enabledSource CVE Database V5

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 7.0 High.

Data as of 25 Oct 2026, 19:02 UTC

CVSS 4.0 base score

7.0High

How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.

EPSS: 0.1% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 4% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.

CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:H/AT:N/PR:H/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N

Attack Vector: Local
Attack Complexity: High
Attack Requirements: None
Privileges Required: High
User Interaction: None
Vulnerable system confidentiality: High
Vulnerable system integrity: High
Vulnerable system availability: None
Subsequent system confidentiality: None
Subsequent system integrity: None
Subsequent system availability: None

Bold values are the worst case: easiest to exploit or largest impact.

Attack Vector: Local: The vulnerable system is not bound to the network stack and the attacker’s path is via read/write/execute capabilities. Either the attacker exploits the vulnerability by accessing the target system locally (e.g., keyboard, console), or through terminal emulation (e.g., SSH); or the attacker relies on User Interaction by another person to perform actions required to exploit the vulnerability (e.g., using social engineering techniques to trick a legitimate user into opening a malicious document).
Attack Complexity: High: The successful attack depends on the evasion or circumvention of security-enhancing techniques in place that would otherwise hinder the attack. These include: Evasion of exploit mitigation techniques, for example, circumvention of address space randomization (ASLR) or data execution prevention (DEP) must be performed for the attack to be successful; Obtaining target-specific secrets. The attacker must gather some target-specific secret before the attack can be successful. A secret is any piece of information that cannot be obtained through any amount of reconnaissance. To obtain the secret the attacker must perform additional attacks or break otherwise secure measures (e.g. knowledge of a secret key may be needed to break a crypto channel). This operation must be performed for each attacked target.
Attack Requirements: None: The successful attack does not depend on the deployment and execution conditions of the vulnerable system. The attacker can expect to be able to reach the vulnerability and execute the exploit under all or most instances of the vulnerability.
Privileges Required: High: The attacker requires privileges that provide significant (e.g., administrative) control over the vulnerable system allowing full access to the vulnerable system’s settings and files.
User Interaction: None: The vulnerable system can be exploited without interaction from any human user, other than the attacker.
Vulnerable system confidentiality: High: There is a total loss of confidentiality, resulting in all information within the Vulnerable System being divulged to the attacker. Alternatively, access to only some restricted information is obtained, but the disclosed information presents a direct, serious impact. For example, an attacker steals the administrator's password, or private encryption keys of a web server.
Vulnerable system integrity: High: There is a total loss of integrity, or a complete loss of protection. For example, the attacker is able to modify any/all files protected by the vulnerable system. Alternatively, only some files can be modified, but malicious modification would present a direct, serious consequence to the vulnerable system.
Vulnerable system availability: None: There is no impact to availability within the Vulnerable System.
Subsequent system confidentiality: None: There is no loss of confidentiality within the Subsequent System or all confidentiality impact is constrained to the Vulnerable System.
Subsequent system integrity: None: There is no loss of integrity within the Subsequent System or all integrity impact is constrained to the Vulnerable System.
Subsequent system availability: None: There is no impact to availability within the Subsequent System or all availability impact is constrained to the Vulnerable System.

Definitions: FIRST CVSS v4.0 specification.

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 12 Aug 2025
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponised: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: no evidence on record.
Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by Mirage: no evidence on record.
No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors

A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 2026-10-25.

Disclosed: The CVE record is public on cve.org. Its publication is t = 0.
Detectable: A public nuclei template can find exposed instances, for defenders and attackers alike.
Weaponised: Public exploit code exists in Metasploit or Exploit-DB, or CISA SSVC reports a public proof of concept.
Exploited in the wild: CISA KEV lists it, CISA SSVC rates exploitation active, or a source reports attacks.
Observed by OffSeq Mirage: OffSeq Mirage honeypot sensors recorded attack traffic for this CVE, or found exposed hosts without attack traffic.

Moments are spaced evenly, not to scale; a dashed line marks a gap of six months or more. Deltas count from t = 0. Sources that give only a date (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, or a time of exactly 00:00Z) read “same day” rather than hours. Metasploit modules carry the flaw’s disclosure date, not their release date, and nuclei templates carry no date, so both appear above but not on the timeline.

What to do

AI-suggested

Organizations should monitor Intel's official advisories for firmware updates addressing this vulnerability and apply patches promptly once available. Until patches are deployed, restrict local privileged access to trusted personnel only, minimizing the risk of exploitation. Implement strict access controls and auditing on systems with SGX enabled to detect unusual privilege escalation attempts. Employ hardware-based security monitoring tools that can detect anomalous firmware behavior. Consider disabling SGX if it is not required for critical workloads to reduce attack surface. In multi-tenant environments, isolate workloads and enforce strict user privilege separation to limit the potential impact of local attacks. Regularly review and update security policies related to firmware and privileged user management. Finally, conduct penetration testing and vulnerability assessments focused on firmware and enclave security to identify potential exploitation paths.

Description

Improper buffer restrictions for some Intel(R) Xeon(R) Processor firmware with SGX enabled may allow a privileged user to potentially enable escalation of privilege via local access.

Impact

The vulnerability allows escalation of privilege by a user who already has some level of privileged access, potentially leading to full control over the processor's secure enclave features. This can result in exposure or manipulation of sensitive data processed within SGX enclaves, undermining confidentiality and integrity guarantees. Additionally, attackers could disrupt enclave operations, impacting availability. For organizations, this could lead to data breaches, loss of trust in secure computing environments, and potential disruption of critical workloads. Cloud service providers and enterprises using Intel Xeon processors with SGX for secure multi-tenant environments are particularly at risk, as attackers could leverage this flaw to compromise isolated workloads. The requirement for local privileged access limits remote exploitation but does not eliminate risk in multi-user or shared infrastructure scenarios. The absence of known exploits reduces immediate threat but does not preclude future weaponization. Overall, the impact is high due to the critical role of SGX in protecting sensitive computations and data.

References

Community reviews

Loading reviews…