Cyber Resilience

CVE-2023-38420

Intel Power Gadget

Published
16 May 2024
Modified
02 September 2025
Patch / advisory
View advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 3.8
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:L/I:N/A:N
EPSS Score 0.0022 13th percentile
Risk Priority 30 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2023-38420 is a low-severity Improper Check for Unusual or Exceptional Conditions (CWE-754) vulnerability in Intel Power Gadget. Its CVSS base score is 3.8 (Low).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Service Stop (T1489); ranked at the 13th 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 SA-11 (Developer Testing and Evaluation) and SC-24 (Fail in Known State) — see the control section below for these in your framework.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

A10:2025 Mishandling of Exceptional Conditions

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

Improper conditions check in Intel(R) Power Gadget software for macOS all versions may allow an authenticated user to potentially enable information disclosure via local access.

CWE(s)
CWE-754CWE-703

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1489 Service Stop Impact
Adversaries may stop or disable services on a system to render those services unavailable to legitimate users.
attack.mitre.org →
T1499 Endpoint Denial of Service Impact
Adversaries may perform Endpoint Denial of Service (DoS) attacks to degrade or block the availability of services to users.
attack.mitre.org →
T1499.004 Application or System Exploitation Impact
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities that can cause an application or system to crash and deny availability to users.
attack.mitre.org →
T1068 Exploitation for Privilege Escalation Privilege Escalation
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in an attempt to elevate privileges.
attack.mitre.org →
T1190 Exploit Public-Facing Application Initial Access
Adversaries may attempt to exploit a weakness in an Internet-facing host or system to initially access a network.
attack.mitre.org →
T1203 Exploitation for Client Execution Execution
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in client applications to execute code.
attack.mitre.org →
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2023-46689Same product: Apple Macos
CVE-2023-40070Same product: Apple Macos
CVE-2023-45846Same product: Apple Macos
CVE-2025-43240Same product: Apple Macos
CVE-2025-24188Same product: Apple Macos
CVE-2025-24100Same product: Apple Macos
CVE-2024-27832Same product: Apple Macos
CVE-2025-43478Same product: Apple Macos
CVE-2023-28212Same product: Apple Macos
CVE-2023-28213Same product: Apple Macos

Affected Assets

intel
power gadget
all versions

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)

—

Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

—

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)
  • 7 hardening rules · 2 OS baselines
Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)

—

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

SA-11 Developer Testing and Evaluation good match

Developer testing and evaluation explicitly exercises unusual conditions to find missing or incorrect checks.

SC-24 Fail in Known State good match

Enforces failure to a known state while preserving required properties, limiting impact of unhandled exceptions.

SI-10 Information Input Validation good match

Input validation directly requires checking for unexpected or malformed conditions before they propagate.

SI-17 Fail-safe Procedures good match

Mandates explicit fail-safe procedures triggered by indicated failures, structurally preventing unhandled exceptional conditions.

SA-8 Security and Privacy Engineering Principles partial match

Security engineering principles include structured handling of edge cases and exceptions during design.

SI-11 Error Handling partial match

Requires generation of safe, actionable error messages that directly addresses proper handling of exceptional conditions.

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.PS-06 mostly match
prevents

Secure development practices directly require proper checks and handling for exceptional conditions throughout the SDLC.

DE.CM-09 partial match
prevents

Runtime monitoring of software and environments can detect adverse events triggered by unhandled exceptional conditions.

PR.PS-04 partial match
prevents

Generating logs of exceptions and errors enables detection of improper handling of unusual conditions.

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.

A.8.29 Security testing in development and acceptance mostly match
finds

Security testing in development and acceptance verifies handling of error and exceptional conditions.

A.8.15 Logging partial match
finds

Logging can record unhandled exceptions but does not prevent the weakness itself.

A.8.16 Monitoring activities partial match
finds

Monitoring may detect symptoms of unhandled conditions but does not eliminate the root weakness.

A.8.25 Secure development life cycle partial match
prevents

Secure development life cycle mandates exception handling and input validation that directly prevent missing checks for unusual conditions.

A.8.26 Application security requirements partial match
prevents

Application security requirements explicitly call for handling of exceptional conditions and error paths.

A.8.27 Secure system architecture and engineering principles partial match
prevents

Secure system architecture and engineering principles require robust error and exception handling mechanisms.

Hardening callouts derived

Configuration rules from DISA STIG baselines that bear on weaknesses of the type cited by this CVE. Each rule is shown with the relationship its mapping actually records, against the CWE it was authored against. Derived via CVE→CWE over `controls_xwalks` (authoritative rows only; rows rated `none` are excluded).

Oracle Linux 8 (2 rules)
  • V-248574 YUM must be configured to prevent the installation of patches, service packs, device drivers, or OL 8 system components that have not been digitally signed using a certificate that is recognized and approved by the organization. prevents CWE-754
  • V-248575 OL 8 must prevent the installation of software, patches, service packs, device drivers, or operating system components of local packages without verification they have been digitally signed using a certificate that is issued by a Certificate Authority (CA) that is recognized and approved by the organization. prevents CWE-754
Oracle Linux 9 (1 rule)
  • V-271452 OL 9 must use a Linux Security Module configured to enforce limits on system services. prevents CWE-754

References