CVE-2026-20709

Description

Use of Default Cryptographic Key in the hardware for some Intel(R) Pentium(R) Processor Silver Series, Intel(R) Celeron(R) Processor J Series, Intel(R) Celeron(R) Processor N Series may allow an escalation of privilege. Hardware reverse engineer adversary with a privileged user combined with a high complexity attack may enable escalation of privilege. This result may potentially occur via physical access when attack requirements are present with special internal knowledge and requires no user interaction. The potential vulnerability may impact the confidentiality (high), integrity (none) and availability (none) of the vulnerable system, resulting in subsequent system confidentiality (high), integrity (high) and availability (none) impacts.

CVSS Details

CVSS Score

6.6

Severity

MEDIUM

CVSS Vector

CVSS:3.1/AV:P/AC:H/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:N

Configurations (Affected Products)

No configuration data available.

Intel Pentium Silver Series

Intel Celeron J Series

Intel Celeron N Series

PoC / Exploit Code

⚠ For Security Research Only

The following code is for security research and authorized testing only.

python

# Proof of Concept (PoC) for CVE-2026-20709
# This script checks if the CPU matches the vulnerable series.
# Note: Actual exploitation requires physical hardware reverse engineering.
import platform
import re

def check_vulnerable_cpu():
    # Get processor info
    cpu_info = platform.processor()
    # Define vulnerable patterns based on CVE description
    vulnerable_patterns = [
        r"Intel\(R\) Pentium\(R\) Silver",
        r"Intel\(R\) Celeron\(R\) J",
        r"Intel\(R\) Celeron\(R\) N"
    ]

    print(f"[*] Detected CPU: {cpu_info}")

    for pattern in vulnerable_patterns:
        if re.search(pattern, cpu_info, re.IGNORECASE):
            print(f"[!] WARNING: System may be vulnerable to CVE-2026-20709 (Default Cryptographic Key).")
            print(f"[*] Recommendation: Apply latest firmware updates provided by Intel.")
            return True

    print("[+] System CPU is not in the explicitly listed vulnerable series.")
    return False

if __name__ == "__main__":
    check_vulnerable_cpu()

References

[1] CVE.org https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-20709
[2] NVD NIST https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-20709
[3] CVE Details https://www.cvedetails.com/cve/CVE-2026-20709/
[4] VulDB https://vuldb.com/cve/CVE-2026-20709
[5] https://intel.com/content/www/us/en/security-center/advisory/intel-sa-00609.html

Raw JSON Data

JSON

{"cve": {"id": "CVE-2026-20709", "sourceIdentifier": "[email protected]", "published": "2026-04-08T19:25:12.600", "lastModified": "2026-04-08T21:26:13.410", "vulnStatus": "Awaiting Analysis", "cveTags": [], "descriptions": [{"lang": "en", "value": "Use of Default Cryptographic Key in the hardware for some Intel(R) Pentium(R) Processor Silver Series, Intel(R) Celeron(R) Processor J Series, Intel(R) Celeron(R) Processor N Series may allow an escalation of privilege. Hardware reverse engineer adversary with a privileged user combined with a high complexity attack may enable escalation of privilege. This result may potentially occur via physical access when attack requirements are present with special internal knowledge and requires no user interaction. The potential vulnerability may impact the confidentiality (high), integrity (none) and availability (none) of the vulnerable system, resulting in subsequent system confidentiality (high), integrity (high) and availability (none) impacts."}], "metrics": {"cvssMetricV40": [{"source": "[email protected]", "type": "Secondary", "cvssData": {"version": "4.0", "vectorString": "CVSS:4.0/AV:P/AC:H/AT:P/PR:H/UI:N/VC:H/VI:N/VA:N/SC:H/SI:H/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X", "baseScore": 5.8, "baseSeverity": "MEDIUM", "attackVector": "PHYSICAL", "attackComplexity": "HIGH", "attackRequirements": "PRESENT", "privilegesRequired": "HIGH", "userInteraction": "NONE", "vulnConfidentialityImpact": "HIGH", "vulnIntegrityImpact": "NONE", "vulnAvailabilityImpact": "NONE", "subConfidentialityImpact": "HIGH", "subIntegrityImpact": "HIGH", "subAvailabilityImpact": "NONE", "exploitMaturity": "NOT_DEFINED", "confidentialityRequirement": "NOT_DEFINED", "integrityRequirement": "NOT_DEFINED", "availabilityRequirement": "NOT_DEFINED", "modifiedAttackVector": "NOT_DEFINED", "modifiedAttackComplexity": "NOT_DEFINED", "modifiedAttackRequirements": "NOT_DEFINED", "modifiedPrivilegesRequired": "NOT_DEFINED", "modifiedUserInteraction": "NOT_DEFINED", "modifiedVulnConfidentialityImpact": "NOT_DEFINED", "modifiedVulnIntegrityImpact": "NOT_DEFINED", "modifiedVulnAvailabilityImpact": "NOT_DEFINED", "modifiedSubConfidentialityImpact": "NOT_DEFINED", "modifiedSubIntegrityImpact": "NOT_DEFINED", "modifiedSubAvailabilityImpact": "NOT_DEFINED", "Safety": "NOT_DEFINED", "Automatable": "NOT_DEFINED", "Recovery": "NOT_DEFINED", "valueDensity": "NOT_DEFINED", "vulnerabilityResponseEffort": "NOT_DEFINED", "providerUrgency": "NOT_DEFINED"}}], "cvssMetricV31": [{"source": "[email protected]", "type": "Secondary", "cvssData": {"version": "3.1", "vectorString": "CVSS:3.1/AV:P/AC:H/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:N", "baseScore": 6.6, "baseSeverity": "MEDIUM", "attackVector": "PHYSICAL", "attackComplexity": "HIGH", "privilegesRequired": "HIGH", "userInteraction": "NONE", "scope": "CHANGED", "confidentialityImpact": "HIGH", "integrityImpact": "HIGH", "availabilityImpact": "NONE"}, "exploitabilityScore": 0.3, "impactScore": 5.8}]}, "weaknesses": [{"source": "[email protected]", "type": "Primary", "description": [{"lang": "en", "value": "CWE-1394"}]}], "references": [{"url": "https://intel.com/content/www/us/en/security-center/advisory/intel-sa-00609.html", "source": "[email protected]"}]}}