CVE-2024-21950 Overview
CVE-2024-21950 is an out-of-bounds read vulnerability in AMD remote management firmware. A privileged local attacker can read a limited section of memory outside of established bounds. Successful exploitation may result in loss of confidentiality or limited availability impact on affected systems.
The vulnerability is tracked under CWE-125: Out-of-bounds Read. AMD disclosed the issue in AMD Security Bulletin #6027. Exploitation requires local access and high privileges, which significantly constrains the attack surface.
Critical Impact
A privileged local attacker can read adjacent memory regions in the remote management firmware, potentially exposing sensitive firmware data or causing limited service disruption.
Affected Products
- AMD remote management firmware (see AMD Security Bulletin #6027 for specific platform and firmware revisions)
Discovery Timeline
- 2026-05-15 - CVE-2024-21950 published to NVD
- 2026-05-15 - Last updated in NVD database
Technical Details for CVE-2024-21950
Vulnerability Analysis
The flaw resides in the remote management firmware that runs alongside AMD platform components. The firmware reads memory without correctly validating the upper bound of the requested region. As a result, the read operation extends past the intended buffer and returns adjacent memory contents to the caller.
This class of weakness, [CWE-125], typically produces information disclosure when a length parameter or index is attacker-influenced. In this case, the attacker must already hold high privileges on the local system, which restricts exploitation to scenarios involving compromised administrative accounts or insider access. The integrity of the system is not affected, but confidentiality and limited availability are.
Root Cause
The root cause is missing or insufficient bounds checking on a read operation inside the remote management firmware. When firmware code processes a request, it does not adequately confirm that the source address and length stay within the allocated buffer. Reading past the buffer boundary returns whatever bytes occupy adjacent memory.
Attack Vector
Exploitation requires local access with high privileges and no user interaction. An attacker with administrative-level control over the host issues a crafted request to the firmware interface. The firmware processes the request and returns out-of-bounds memory contents, which may contain residual data from prior firmware operations. Attack complexity is rated high, reflecting the conditions required to trigger the boundary violation reliably.
No public proof-of-concept code or in-the-wild exploitation has been reported. The vulnerability is not listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog. The EPSS probability sits at the low end of the scale, consistent with a local-only, high-privilege issue.
No verified public exploit code exists for this vulnerability. Refer to the AMD Security Bulletin #6027 for vendor-supplied technical details.
Detection Methods for CVE-2024-21950
Indicators of Compromise
- No public indicators of compromise have been published for CVE-2024-21950.
- Unexpected firmware management interface activity originating from administrative accounts may warrant review.
- Anomalous read operations against remote management endpoints can indicate probing for the boundary condition.
Detection Strategies
- Audit privileged user activity that interacts with AMD remote management firmware interfaces.
- Correlate firmware management tool execution with the accounts and hosts authorized to run them.
- Review platform firmware logs for repeated or malformed read requests that may indicate bounds-testing behavior.
Monitoring Recommendations
- Forward firmware and out-of-band management telemetry to a centralized logging platform for long-term retention.
- Monitor for new local administrator account creation and unusual privilege elevation events on systems with affected firmware.
- Track firmware version inventory across the fleet to identify hosts that remain on vulnerable revisions.
How to Mitigate CVE-2024-21950
Immediate Actions Required
- Review AMD Security Bulletin #6027 and identify systems running affected firmware revisions.
- Apply the AMD-provided firmware update on all affected platforms during the next maintenance window.
- Restrict local administrative access on systems that cannot be patched immediately.
Patch Information
AMD has issued updated remote management firmware as documented in AMD Security Bulletin #6027. Apply the vendor-supplied firmware revision that corresponds to your platform. Validate the update through standard change-management testing before broad deployment.
Workarounds
- Limit local administrative privileges to the minimum set of personnel and service accounts required for operations.
- Enforce multi-factor authentication and just-in-time elevation for accounts capable of reaching firmware interfaces.
- Segment management networks so that out-of-band firmware interfaces are not reachable from general-purpose user networks.
# Example: review local administrators on a Linux host before patching
getent group sudo wheel adm 2>/dev/null
last -F | head -n 20
Disclaimer: This content was generated using AI. While we strive for accuracy, please verify critical information with official sources.
