Intel® Desktop Boards Privilege Escalation

Summary:

Software running administrative (ring 0) privilege can under certain circumstances change code running in System Management Mode.

Description:

A new BIOS update is available for selected Intel desktop motherboards to ensure proper configuration settings. These changes would prevent a malicious user from modifying software that is run in System Management Mode (SMM). SMM is a privileged operating environment running outside of OS control. Malicious software running in this environment could therefore perform any number of operations. Administrative level privileges are required to exploit this issue.

Affected products:

DQ43AP, DQ45CB, DQ45EK, DQ35JO, DQ35MP, DP45SG, DG43NB, DP43TF, DP55KG, DP55SB, DP55WG, DP55WB, DQ57TM, DH55TC, DH55HC, DG41KR, DB43LD, DG41MJ, DG41RQ, DG41TY, DG43GT

Recommendations:

While Intel is not aware of any use of the vulnerabilities described in this advisory, Intel has made changes to the BIOS of Intel® Desktop Boards to mitigate this issue. It is highly recommended to apply these updates to affected motherboards.

To determine if you need this BIOS update check the BIOS version string. If the number is older than listed in the chart for your motherboard below you need to apply the update.

1. During boot, enter the BIOS setup by pressing F2.

2. Check the Main menu.

3. The 4-digit number after the ‘86A’ or ‘86I’ is the current BIOS version, as in this example: MQ96510H.86A.1663.2007.0319.1957

4. Press Escape to exit BIOS Setup

For the Intel products listed in the Affected Products table, Intel has made available updated BIOS per the table below. The updated BIOS is available at <http://www.intel.com/p/en_US/support&gt;. On the ‘Advanced Search’ line, enter the affected product name (for example DG33BU) and click Search Support. Click on the found product, make sure you’re under the support tab and select BIOS updates. Next click on the BIOS title, then follow the instructions on the download page for downloading and installing the BIOS update. Several options are available. For detailed instructions on updating your BIOS refer to <http://www.intel.com/support/motherboards/desktop/sb/CS-022312.htm&gt;.

Desktop Board

|

Fix included in this version or higher

—|—

DQ43AP

|

APQ4310H.86A.0031

DQ45CB

|

CBQ4510H.86A.0109

DQ45EK

|

CBQ4510H.86A.0109

DQ35JO

|

JOQ3510J.86A.1126

DQ35MP

|

JOQ3510J.86A.1126

DP55KG

|

KGIBX10J.86A.4236

DP55SB

|

KGIBX10J.86A.4236

DP55WG

|

KGIBX10J.86A.4236

DP55WB

|

WBIBX10J.86A.0181

DQ57TM

|

TMIBX10H.86A.0025

DH55TC

|

TCIBX10H.86A.0028

DH55HC

|

TCIBX10H.86A.0028

DG41KR

|

KRG4110H.86A.0029

DB43LD

|

LDB4310H.86A.0035

DG41MJ

|

MJG4110H.86A.0006

DG41RQ

|

RQG4110H.86A.0013

DG41TY

|

TYG4110H.86A.0037

DP45SG

|

SGP4510H.86A.0125

DG43NB

|

NBG4310H.86A.0104

DP43TF

|

NBG4310H.86A.0104

DG43GT

|

GTG4310H.86A.0028