Intel Xeon 6 Privilege Escalation Vulnerability CVE-2026-20716 Advisory

Vulnerability Overview Vulnerability ID: CVE-2026-20716 Severity: High Description: An Improper access control vulnerability in certain Intel® processors may lead to privilege escalation. Attackers can achieve privilege escalation through simple hardware attacks combined with authenticated users and high-complexity scenarios. This vulnerability may impact system Confidentiality (High), Integrity (High), and Availability (None). CVSS Base Score: 7.2 High CVSS Vector: CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:H/AT:P/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N Affected Products Affected Products: - Intel® Xeon® 6 processor with P-cores (Server) - Intel® Xeon® 6 SoC - Intel® Xeon® 6 processor (Workstation) Remediation Recommendation: Intel recommends that affected users update to the latest version provided by the system manufacturer to resolve these issues. Additional Information Release Date: August 11, 2026 Last Revised: August 11, 2026 Discovery Method: This issue was discovered internally by Intel employees. Disclosure Practice: Follows coordinated disclosure practices, meaning public disclosure occurs only after mitigation measures are provided. Legal Notice and Disclaimer Material provided by Intel is provided “as is” without warranty of any kind, either expressed or implied. All product names, dates, and specifications are based on current expectations and are subject to change at any time. Intel products and services described may contain known or unknown defects that could cause products to deviate from specifications. Products meeting the End of Support date may no longer receive feature and security updates. The functionality and benefits of Intel technologies depend on system configuration, and hardware, software, or service activation may be required. Performance varies by system configuration. No product or component can be absolutely secure. Some results are estimated or simulated based on internal analysis or architecture simulations and are for reference only. Any differences in system hardware, software, or configuration may affect actual performance. Intel Corporation, the Intel logo, and other Intel marks are trademarks of Intel Corporation or its subsidiaries. Report a Vulnerability If you have information regarding a security vulnerability, please submit a report via the Integrity platform. For issues related to external Intel websites, please contact Intel’s External Security Research team. Need Product Support? For questions about Intel product security features, technical support needs, or if you want product updates or patches, please visit the Support and Downloads page.

Goal Reached Thanks to every supporter — we hit 100%!

Intel Xeon 6 Privilege Escalation Vulnerability CVE-2026-20716 Advisory