Cyber Resilience

CVE-2023-32666

Published
14 March 2024
Modified
15 April 2026
CVSS Score v3.1 7.2
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:N
EPSS Score 0.0015 5th percentile
Risk Priority 47 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2023-32666 is a high-severity On-Chip Debug and Test Interface With Improper Access Control (CWE-1191) vulnerability in Intel (inferred from references). Its CVSS base score is 7.2 (High).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique OS Credential Dumping (T1003); ranked at the 5th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to AC-3 (Access Enforcement) and AC-6 (Least Privilege) — see the control section below for these in your framework.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

On-chip debug and test interface with improper access control in some 4th Generation Intel(R) Xeon(R) Processors when using Intel(R) SGX or Intel(R) TDX may allow a privileged user to potentially enable escalation of privilege via local access.

CWE(s)

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1003 OS Credential Dumping Credential Access
Adversaries may attempt to dump credentials to obtain account login and credential material, normally in the form of a hash or a clear text password.
T1005 Data from Local System Collection
Adversaries may search local system sources, such as file systems, configuration files, local databases, virtual machine files, or process memory, to find files of interest and sensitive data prior to Exfiltration.
T1052 Exfiltration Over Physical Medium Exfiltration
Adversaries may attempt to exfiltrate data via a physical medium, such as a removable drive.
T1495 Firmware Corruption Impact
Adversaries may overwrite or corrupt the flash memory contents of system BIOS or other firmware in devices attached to a system in order to render them inoperable or unable to boot, thus denying the availability to use the devices and/or…
T1552 Unsecured Credentials Credential Access
Adversaries may search compromised systems to find and obtain insecurely stored credentials.
T1601 Modify System Image Defense Impairment
Adversaries may make changes to the operating system of embedded network devices to weaken defenses and provide new capabilities for themselves.
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2025-52533Shared CWE-1191
CVE-2025-7213Shared CWE-1191
CVE-2025-47819Shared CWE-1191
CVE-2025-26408Shared CWE-1191
CVE-2025-65821Shared CWE-1191
CVE-2025-48468Shared CWE-1191
CVE-2025-15083Shared CWE-1191
CVE-2024-48970Shared CWE-1191
CVE-2025-65822Shared CWE-1191
CVE-2024-36319Shared CWE-1191

Affected Assets

Intel
inferred from references and description; NVD did not file a CPE for this CVE

Mitigating Controls

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

AC-3 directly requires enforcement of authorization checks on all logical access paths, which would block unauthorized use of the debug/test interface registers.

AC-6 requires restricting access rights to the minimum needed, limiting what an attacker reaching the debug interface can actually read or modify.

IA-3 requires device identification and authentication before any connection is established, which would apply to external debug or test equipment.

Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

PR.AA-05 mostly match
prevents

Defining and enforcing access permissions directly addresses improper authorization to debug interfaces.

PR.AA-06 mostly match
prevents

Managing physical access to assets covers control of on-chip debug/test ports and pins.

PR.AA-03 partial match
prevents

Authentication of hardware can help restrict debug interface use but is narrower than full access control.

Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

finds

Security testing can discover improper debug access but does not itself implement the control.

mitigates

Physical perimeters can limit access to debug ports but do not address on-chip access-control logic.

mitigates

Physical entry controls reduce the chance of an attacker reaching the chip but do not enforce on-chip debug authorization.

mitigates

Privileged-access rules may extend to hardware debug interfaces, yet the control is not hardware-specific.

prevents

Secure SDLC encourages hardware security requirements but does not mandate debug-port controls.

prevents

Secure architecture principles include hardware access-control mechanisms for debug and test interfaces.

References