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CVE-2018-9085· NVD / CVE Program· CNA lenovo

Missing System x Flash Memory Write Protection Lock Bit

A write protection lock bit was left unset after boot on an older generation of Lenovo and IBM System x servers, potentially allowing an attacker with administrator access to modify the subset of flash memory containing Intel Server Platform Services (SPS) and the system Flash Descriptors.

MediumCVSS 4.9 · v3.0—No exploit No fix recorded
Published
Nov 16, 2018
Updated
Jun 16, 2026
EPSS
0.7% · 50th percentile
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Report tools

JSON

Action score

19

Monitor

Low priority for now.

CVSS
19 / 40 · 4.9 / 10
CISA KEV
0 / 30 · Not listed
EPSS
0 / 30 · 0.7%

Affected systems

VendorProduct
lenovoflex system x240 m4 firmware
lenovoflex system x240 m4
lenovoflex system x440 m4 firmware
lenovoflex system x440 m4
lenovosystem x3750 m4 firmware
lenovosystem x3750 m4
ibmbladecenter hs23 firmware
ibmbladecenter
ibmbladecenter hs23e firmware
ibmflex system x220 m4 firmware
ibmflex system x220
ibmflex system x222 m4 firmware

and 44 more

Affected versions

NVD version ranges (for catalog products). Add the product to your stack with a version and matching uses these.

  • ibm bladecenter hs23 firmwarebefore tke160c
  • ibm bladecenter hs23e firmwarebefore ahe160c
  • ibm flex system x220 m4 firmwarebefore kse158c
  • ibm flex system x222 m4 firmwarebefore cce160c
  • ibm flex system x240 m4 firmwarebefore ahe160c
  • ibm flex system x280 x6 firmwarebefore n3e132w
  • ibm flex system x440 m4 firmwarebefore cne162d
  • ibm flex system x480 x6 firmwarebefore n3e132w
  • ibm flex system x880 x6 firmwarebefore n2e130e
  • ibm idataplex dx360 m4 firmwarebefore fhe120d
  • ibm idataplex dx360 m4 water cooled firmwarebefore fhe120d
  • ibm system x3100 m4 firmwarebefore jqe184c
  • ibm system x3100 m5 firmwarebefore j9e134c
  • ibm system x3250 m4 firmwarebefore jqe184c
  • ibm system x3250 m5 firmwarebefore jue134c
  • ibm system x3300 m4 firmwarebefore yae156c
  • ibm system x3500 m4 firmwarebefore y5e158c
  • ibm system x3530 m4 firmwarebefore bee164c
  • ibm system x3550 m4 firmwarebefore d7e166d
  • ibm system x3630 m4 firmwarebefore vve162c

Versions reported by the vendor

Affected version ranges reported by the assigning authority (lenovo). Independent of NVD's CPE analysis and usually ahead of it.

  • IBM System x UEFI

    • unspecified and later · before variesaffected

  • Lenovo System x UEFI

    • unspecified and later · before variesaffected

Same product

lenovo: all records

Other highest-scoring records for the same primary product.

  • CVE-2019-6157In various firmware versions of Lenovo System x, the integrated management module II (IMM2)'s first failure data capture (FFDC) includes the
    30Monitor
  • CVE-2018-9068The IMM2 First Failure Data Capture function collects management module logs and diagnostic information when a hardware error is detected.
    30Monitor

Remediation

Which version to upgrade to

Fix versions compiled from the vendor, package registries and Microsoft. Verify the vendor's note before upgrading.

No fix version is recorded for this entry. Check the references for vendor advisories.

Exploit status

No known public exploit

No public exploit has been observed yet. That doesn't mean you're safe, only that the bar is a little higher.

Research context

For pentesters and researchers: attack profile, score disagreement, timeline, patch commits, credits, variant and chain candidates, bug bounty scope. All derived from existing data; no exploit code.

Timeline

From publication to today: proof of concept, Metasploit module, CISA KEV and fix record. Dates are as reported by the sources.

No dated events beyond publication.

EPSS, last 120 days

FIRST EPSS daily score; only changes of 0.01 or more are recorded (step chart).

Patch and commit links

Commit, PR and diff links among the references. A starting point for patch-diffing and variant hunting; fixes, not exploits.

No commit or PR link among the references.

Credits

All researchers

Finders, reporters and analysts named in the CNA record. Click a name for that researcher’s other records.

No credits in the CNA record.

Variant candidates

Same product, same weakness class, within 18 months. If the patch missed the root cause, the sibling bug is here.

No nightly-computed relations.

Chain candidates

An authentication bypass and a privilege-requiring bug in the same product, published close together: combined they may become an unauthenticated path.

—

Bug bounty scope

The product’s vendor appears in a public program. Matched by name; verify the scope text in the program.

Technical details

Attack conditions

  • Anyone who can reach it over the internet can trigger it.
  • Administrator privileges are required.
  • No user action is required.
  • No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.

If successful

Confidentiality
none
Integrity
high · data or configuration can be modified
Availability
none
Attack vector
Network
Attack complexity
Low
Privileges required
High
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality impact
None
Integrity impact
High
Availability impact
None

Weakness class (CWE)

CWE-276 · Incorrect Default Permissions

CVSS vector

CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N

nvd-primary

Attack context

MITRE CAPEC attack patterns and ATT&CK techniques for this weakness class (CWE). A starting point for detection rules and threat hunting.

Noroxi analysis

No Noroxi analysis for this record yet

We don't hand-write analysis for all 385,000+ vulnerabilities; that wouldn't be honest. For notable, high-impact vulnerabilities our team writes the mechanism, detection and remediation steps.

We use this product, ask for help

Change log

No changes recorded on tracked fields yet. Score, KEV, exploit maturity and fix status changes appear here.

References

Vendor advisories and official records. Exploit/PoC links are deliberately left out.

All records