CVE-2026-34175: Hardware-Aware ML Privilege Escalation

CVE-2026-34175 Overview

CVE-2026-34175 is an uncontrolled search path vulnerability [CWE-427] affecting Intel Hardware-Aware-Automated-MachineLearning software before commit 45cd723. The flaw resides in Ring 3 user application code and can allow a local authenticated user to escalate privileges. Exploitation requires an unprivileged software adversary acting in conjunction with a privileged user, along with passive user interaction. Intel documented the issue in Intel Security Advisory SA-01485.

Critical Impact
Successful exploitation may compromise the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of the vulnerable system through local privilege escalation.

Affected Products

Intel Hardware-Aware-Automated-MachineLearning software builds before commit 45cd723
Deployments where the affected component executes in Ring 3 alongside privileged user workflows
Systems where the Hardware-Aware-Automated-MachineLearning package resolves dependencies from writable directories

Discovery Timeline

2026-08-11 - CVE-2026-34175 published to the National Vulnerability Database
2026-08-12 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2026-34175

Vulnerability Analysis

The vulnerability is an uncontrolled search path element weakness in Intel Hardware-Aware-Automated-MachineLearning code. When the affected application loads supporting libraries or executables, it resolves them through a search path that includes directories writable by unprivileged users. An attacker who plants a malicious file with a matching name in a preferred search location causes the privileged process to load attacker-controlled code.

The issue executes at Ring 3, meaning the initial code runs in user mode. Privilege escalation occurs when a higher-privileged user launches or interacts with the affected component and triggers loading of the planted artifact. The attacker inherits the privileges of that user context.

The attack requires local access and passive user interaction. Attack complexity is low and no special internal knowledge is needed. Successful exploitation yields high confidentiality, integrity, and availability impact on the vulnerable component, though the advisory indicates no direct subsequent impact on other systems.

Root Cause

The root cause is improper control of the search path used to resolve external resources such as dynamic libraries, helper binaries, or scripts. Because the search order includes untrusted directories before trusted system locations, a lower-privileged attacker can influence which file the software loads at runtime. The fix landed in commit 45cd723, which constrains resolution to trusted paths.

Attack Vector

The attack chain begins with an unprivileged local user placing a malicious binary or library in a directory that appears earlier in the search order used by the vulnerable component. The attacker then waits for a privileged user to run or interact with the Hardware-Aware-Automated-MachineLearning tooling. When the process resolves the target name, it loads the attacker-supplied file and executes it with elevated privileges.

No verified public exploit code is available for CVE-2026-34175. See the Intel Security Advisory SA-01485 for vendor-provided technical details.

Detection Methods for CVE-2026-34175

Indicators of Compromise

Unexpected DLL, shared object, or executable files written to directories on the search path of Intel Hardware-Aware-Automated-MachineLearning components
Child processes spawned from Hardware-Aware-Automated-MachineLearning binaries that do not match legitimate installed dependencies
Modifications to PATH, LD_LIBRARY_PATH, or per-user environment scripts preceding privileged tool execution

Detection Strategies

Monitor file creation events in current working directories and user-writable paths that intersect with Hardware-Aware-Automated-MachineLearning execution
Alert on privileged processes loading modules from non-standard or user-writable locations
Baseline the module load set of the affected application and flag deviations

Monitoring Recommendations

Enable process and image-load telemetry on hosts running Intel Hardware-Aware-Automated-MachineLearning tooling
Correlate privileged user sessions with recent file writes by unprivileged accounts in shared directories
Track version and commit hash of deployed Hardware-Aware-Automated-MachineLearning installations to confirm patch status

How to Mitigate CVE-2026-34175

Immediate Actions Required

Upgrade Intel Hardware-Aware-Automated-MachineLearning to a build that includes commit 45cd723 or later
Restrict write permissions on any directory referenced by the search path of the affected component
Limit which users can invoke the Hardware-Aware-Automated-MachineLearning tooling with elevated privileges until the patch is applied

Patch Information

Intel addressed the issue in Hardware-Aware-Automated-MachineLearning commit 45cd723. Apply the fixed version referenced in Intel Security Advisory SA-01485 to all systems where the component is installed.

Workarounds

Run the affected tooling from directories that only administrators can modify
Explicitly set the search path to trusted locations before invoking the application, avoiding relative paths and current working directory resolution
Enforce least privilege so privileged users do not launch the tool from shared or user-writable working directories

bash

# Configuration example: constrain search path before invocation
export PATH="/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin"
unset LD_LIBRARY_PATH
cd /opt/intel/haaml-trusted
./haaml-tool --run