Vulnerability · Published Aug 11, 2026 · Assigned by intel
CVE-2026-20716
High 7.2
In plain English
A high-severity improper access control in Intel(R) Processors. There are no confirmed reports of exploitation so far. The chance it is exploited in the next 30 days is estimated at 0.1% (higher than 0% of all known vulnerabilities). Fixed versions are available - upgrade the affected package.
Official description
Improper access control for some Intel(R) Processors within Ring 3: User Applications may allow an escalation of privilege. Simple hardware adversary with an authenticated user combined with a high complexity attack may enable escalation of privilege. This result may potentially occur via local access when attack requirements are present with special internal knowledge and requires no user interaction. The potential vulnerability may impact the confidentiality (high), integrity (high) and availability (none) of the vulnerable system, resulting in subsequent system confidentiality (none), integrity (none) and availability (none) impacts.
Affected packages & fixed versions
| Ecosystem | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alpine:v3.21 | intel-ucode | 20260812-r0 | ALPINE-CVE-2026-20716 |
| Alpine:v3.22 | intel-ucode | 20260812-r0 | ALPINE-CVE-2026-20716 |
| Alpine:v3.23 | intel-ucode | 20260812-r0 | ALPINE-CVE-2026-20716 |
| Alpine:v3.24 | intel-ucode | 20260812-r0 | ALPINE-CVE-2026-20716 |
| Debian:12 | intel-microcode | no fix listed | DEBIAN-CVE-2026-20716 |
| Debian:13 | intel-microcode | no fix listed | DEBIAN-CVE-2026-20716 |
| Debian:14 | intel-microcode | 3.20260925.1 | DEBIAN-CVE-2026-20716 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | intel-microcode | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2026-20716 |
| Ubuntu:24.04:LTS | intel-microcode | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2026-20716 |
| Ubuntu:26.04:LTS | intel-microcode | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2026-20716 |
| Ubuntu:26.10 | intel-microcode | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2026-20716 |
Affected products (as reported)
| Vendor | Product | Versions |
|---|---|---|
| n/a | Intel(R) Processors | See references |
Weakness: CWE-284 · 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