Actively exploited vulnerability

GIGABYTE products: privilege escalation flaw under attack

CVE-2018-19323 · GIGABYTE Multiple Products Privilege Escalation Vulnerability

Concerns everyone who uses it9.8 criticalUsed in ransomware attacks

What is affected

GIGABYTE products are found on ordinary personal computers and phones, so this is not only a problem for companies. If you use them and have not updated since the fix was released, you are exposed.

The GPCIDrv and GDrv low-level drivers in GIGABYTE App Center, AORUS Graphics Engine, XTREME Gaming Engine, and OC GURU expose functionality to read and write arbitrary physical memory. This could be leveraged by a local attacker to elevate privileges.

CISA's description

What an attacker can do

This is a privilege escalation flaw. It lets an attacker turn limited access into full administrator control. Attackers pair it with another flaw or a malicious file: once anything of theirs runs on the device, this bug lets it take over completely.

How it is reached
Over the internet or network
Access the attacker needs
No account needed
Does the victim have to do something?
No, works without the victim doing anything

CISA records this vulnerability as known to be used in ransomware campaigns: attackers use it to get in, then encrypt files and demand payment.

What to do

  1. Update GIGABYTE products now. Open the update or "About" screen, install whatever is offered and restart the app or device, because the fix is not active until you do.
  2. Turn on automatic updates so the next fix arrives without you having to look for it.
  3. If your device is too old to receive this update, stop using the affected app for anything sensitive and plan a replacement.

Apply updates per vendor instructions.

Action required by CISA for US federal agencies

Vendor advisories and fixes

How urgent is it

CISA added this vulnerability to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalogue on October 24, 2022, which means there is reliable evidence of attacks in the wild. US federal agencies must fix it by November 14, 2022, a deadline that has already passed. That deadline does not bind anyone else, but it shows how seriously the agency rates it.

The EPSS model estimates a 8.4% probability that this flaw will be exploited somewhere in the next 30 days. That is higher than 95% of all scored vulnerabilities.

Its CVSS severity score is 9.8 out of 10 (critical), as recorded in the US National Vulnerability Database.

Technical description

The GDrv low-level driver in GIGABYTE APP Center v1.05.21 and earlier, AORUS GRAPHICS ENGINE before 1.57, XTREME GAMING ENGINE before 1.26, and OC GURU II v2.08 exposes functionality to read and write Machine Specific Registers (MSRs).

NIST National Vulnerability Database
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