MediumCVE-2018-9085

    Missing System x Flash Memory Write Protection Lock Bit (CVE-2018-9085)

    Published Sources: CVE.org

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    What is affected, what to do

    A write protection lock bit was left unset after boot on an older generation of Lenovo and IBM System x servers, potentially allowing an attacker with administrator access to modify the subset of flash memory containing Intel Server Platform Services (SPS) and the system Flash Descriptors.

    Update Lenovo Flex System X240 M4 Firmware to version a3e122b, Lenovo Flex System X440 M4 Firmware to version cge122b, Lenovo System X3750 M4 Firmware to version a5e124b.

    Affected
    • Lenovo Flex System X240 M4 Firmware lt *..a3e122b
    • Lenovo Flex System X440 M4 Firmware lt *..cge122b
    • Lenovo System X3750 M4 Firmware lt *..a5e124b
    • Ibm Bladecenter HS23 Firmware lt *..tke160c
    • IBM BladeCenter HS23E Firmware lt *..ahe160c
    • IBM Flex System X220 M4 Firmware lt *..kse158c
    • IBM Flex System X222 M4 Firmware lt *..cce160c
    • IBM Flex System X240 M4 Firmware lt *..ahe160c
    • IBM Flex System X280 X6 Firmware lt *..n3e132w
    • IBM Flex System X440 M4 Firmware lt *..cne162d
    • IBM Flex System X480 X6 Firmware lt *..n3e132w
    • IBM Flex System X880 X6 Firmware lt *..n2e130e
    • IBM iDataPlex DX360 M4 Firmware lt *..fhe120d
    • IBM iDataPlex DX360 M4 Water Cooled Firmware lt *..fhe120d
    • IBM System X3100 M4 Firmware lt *..jqe184c
    • IBM System X3100 M5 Firmware lt *..j9e134c
    • IBM System X3250 M4 Firmware lt *..jqe184c
    • IBM System X3250 M5 Firmware lt *..jue134c
    • IBM System X3300 M4 Firmware lt *..yae156c
    • IBM System X3500 M4 Firmware lt *..y5e158c
    • Ibm System X3530 M4 Firmware lt *..bee164c
    • IBM System X3550 M4 Firmware lt *..d7e166d
    • IBM System X3630 M4 Firmware lt *..vve162c
    • IBM System X3650 M4 Firmware lt *..vve160c
    • IBM System X3650 M4 BD Firmware lt *..vve160c
    • Ibm System X3650 M4 Hd Firmware lt *..vve160c
    • IBM System X3750 M4 Firmware lt *..koe160c
    • IBM System X3850 X6 Firmware lt *..a8e128c
    • IBM System X3950 X6 Firmware lt *..bee164c
    Fixed in
    • Lenovo Flex System X240 M4 Firmware a3e122b
    • Lenovo Flex System X440 M4 Firmware cge122b
    • Lenovo System X3750 M4 Firmware a5e124b
    • Ibm Bladecenter HS23 Firmware tke160c
    • IBM BladeCenter HS23E Firmware ahe160c
    • IBM Flex System X220 M4 Firmware kse158c
    • IBM Flex System X222 M4 Firmware cce160c
    • IBM Flex System X240 M4 Firmware ahe160c
    • IBM Flex System X280 X6 Firmware n3e132w
    • IBM Flex System X440 M4 Firmware cne162d
    • IBM Flex System X480 X6 Firmware n3e132w
    • IBM Flex System X880 X6 Firmware n2e130e
    • IBM iDataPlex DX360 M4 Firmware fhe120d
    • IBM iDataPlex DX360 M4 Water Cooled Firmware fhe120d
    • IBM System X3100 M4 Firmware jqe184c
    • IBM System X3100 M5 Firmware j9e134c
    • IBM System X3250 M4 Firmware jqe184c
    • IBM System X3250 M5 Firmware jue134c
    • IBM System X3300 M4 Firmware yae156c
    • IBM System X3500 M4 Firmware y5e158c
    • Ibm System X3530 M4 Firmware bee164c
    • IBM System X3550 M4 Firmware d7e166d
    • IBM System X3630 M4 Firmware vve162c
    • IBM System X3650 M4 Firmware vve160c
    • IBM System X3650 M4 BD Firmware vve160c
    • Ibm System X3650 M4 Hd Firmware vve160c
    • IBM System X3750 M4 Firmware koe160c
    • IBM System X3850 X6 Firmware a8e128c
    • IBM System X3950 X6 Firmware bee164c

    Not sure whether and how you are affected? Ask a question about this vulnerability

    Metrics

    4.9

    Priority

    XIEM Effective CVSS: highest available CVSS rating from NVD and vendor data.

    Source: NVD, CVSS v3

    4.9

    CVSS v3

    Severity Medium on the scale from 0 to 10.

    Source: CVE.org

    0.7 %

    EPSS score

    Low — model estimates < 1% exploitation likelihood.

    Source: FIRST EPSS, percentile 51.9

    Show all metrics
    Severity
    Medium
    Priority (0–325)

    The priority score is a consolidated metric that condenses several individual signals into a single, action-guiding ranking: technical severity (CVSS), exploitation likelihood (EPSS), known-exploited status (KEV) and the context of the affected asset. The aim is to answer the only truly important question in vulnerability management: what first?

    Read in glossary
    45.92 Methodology
    Exploit maturity

    An exploit is code or a technique that specifically uses a concrete vulnerability to force unintended behaviour — such as executing code or escalating privileges. It is the tool that turns a theoretical flaw into a practical attack.

    Read in glossary
    no public PoC known
    XIEM Effective CVSS

    XIEM® is the tiered managed-security operating model from NEOSEC and a registered trademark of NEOSEC GmbH. It extends classic SIEM — the central collection, normalisation and correlation of security-relevant events — with endpoint forensics, network visibility and deception technology, and consolidates them into three building tiers: Sentry, Orchestrate and Command.

    Read in glossary
    4.9 Methodology
    CVSS v3

    CVSS is the globally established, open standard for assessing the technical severity of a vulnerability on a scale from 0 to 10. It describes how easily a flaw can be exploited and what damage it can cause — but not how likely its actual exploitation is. CVSS and the complementary EPSS deliberately answer different questions.

    Read in glossary
    4.9
    EPSS score

    The EPSS score is the absolute model output for an individual vulnerability: the estimated probability of real-world exploitation within the next 30 days, expressed as a value between 0 and 1 (i.e. 0 % to 100 %). A score of 0.42 means „the model estimates a 42 % chance of real-world exploitation within 30 days“.

    Read in glossary
    0.7 %
    Low — model estimates < 1% exploitation likelihood.
    EPSS percentile

    The EPSS percentile is the relative position of a vulnerability within all EPSS-scored CVEs, expressed as a value between 0 and 1. A percentile of 0.90 means „this CVE has a higher EPSS score than 90 % of all other scored CVEs“. Unlike the EPSS score, it is not a probability — but a positioning within a ranking.

    Read in glossary
    51.9
    High — this CVE ranks above the median of all CVEs scored today (rank ≥ 36%).
    KEV status

    The KEV catalogue is a list maintained by the US authority CISA of vulnerabilities for which active exploitation in the wild has been confirmed. It answers not the question „how severe?“ but „is it already being attacked?“ — thereby sharply prioritising patching.

    Read in glossary
    —
    Published

    Detection rules

    No NEOSEC detection rule is available for this vulnerability yet.

    Classification under NIS2 and CRA

    Rule-based classification from exploitation status and severity. It does not replace a case-by-case assessment.

    NIS2

    NIS2 is EU Directive (EU) 2022/2555 to raise the level of cybersecurity across the Union. It substantially broadens obligations compared with the first NIS directive: more sectors, mandatory risk management, staged reporting duties and personal accountability of senior management.

    Read in glossary
    Handle the vulnerability in regular vulnerability handling under Art. 21(2)(e) NIS2.
    CRA

    The CRA is EU Regulation (EU) 2024/2847 setting horizontal cybersecurity requirements for „products with digital elements“ — from industrial controllers and software to connected consumer devices. For the first time manufacturers must ensure security across the entire product lifecycle, handle vulnerabilities and provide security updates.

    Read in glossary
    From 11.12.2027, Annex I Part II CRA requires manufacturers of affected products with digital elements to handle vulnerabilities without delay and provide security updates.
    ISO/IEC 27001

    ISO/IEC 27001 is the internationally leading standard for an information security management system (ISMS). It describes a risk-based, process-oriented framework to systematically plan, implement, review and improve information security.

    Read in glossary
    Control A.8.8, management of technical vulnerabilities: assess relevance to your systems, plan remediation and keep evidence.

    Description

    A write protection lock bit was left unset after boot on an older generation of Lenovo and IBM System x servers, potentially allowing an attacker with administrator access to modify the subset of flash memory containing Intel Server Platform Services (SPS) and the system Flash Descriptors.

    Source: NVD (NIST), cvelistv5

    Affected products

    The following versions are affected. Older releases of the same product line are also vulnerable unless stated otherwise.

    Affected products
    Affected versionsFixed in
    IBMSystem x UEFI
    • —
    • —
    LenovoSystem x UEFI
    • —
    • —

    Vendors and products

    Affected operating systems

    Affected operating systems
    Otheribmbladecenter_hs23_firmware—
    Otheribmbladecenter_hs23e_firmware—
    Otheribmflex_system_x220_m4_firmware—
    Otheribmflex_system_x222_m4_firmware—
    Otheribmflex_system_x240_m4_firmware—
    Otherlenovoflex_system_x240_m4_firmware—
    Otheribmflex_system_x280_x6_firmware—
    Otheribmflex_system_x440_m4_firmware—
    Otherlenovoflex_system_x440_m4_firmware—
    Otheribmflex_system_x480_x6_firmware—
    Otheribmflex_system_x880_x6_firmware—
    Otheribmidataplex_dx360_m4_firmware—
    Otheribmidataplex_dx360_m4_water_cooled_firmware—
    Otheribmsystem_x3100_m4_firmware—
    Otheribmsystem_x3100_m5_firmware—
    Otheribmsystem_x3250_m4_firmware—
    Otheribmsystem_x3250_m5_firmware—
    Otheribmsystem_x3300_m4_firmware—
    Otheribmsystem_x3500_m4_firmware—
    Otheribmsystem_x3530_m4_firmware—
    Otheribmsystem_x3550_m4_firmware—
    Otheribmsystem_x3630_m4_firmware—
    Otheribmsystem_x3650_m4_bd_firmware—
    Otheribmsystem_x3650_m4_firmware—

    References & sources

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