Vulnerability record · CVE-2017-5715 · published 4 January 2018
CVE-2017-5715: Intel CPUs speculative execution side-channel information disclosure
Intel · Atom C
CVE-2017-5715 is the Spectre variant 2 flaw in Intel microprocessors that use speculative execution and indirect branch prediction. A local attacker can use side-channel analysis to read data that the processor speculatively accessed, potentially exposing sensitive information from other processes or the kernel. The issue affects a broad range of Intel Atom, Celeron, Pentium, Core, and Xeon products.
Description
Systems with microprocessors utilizing speculative execution and indirect branch prediction may allow unauthorized disclosure of information to an attacker with local user access via a side-channel analysis.
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:N/A:N
Automated analysis
high priorityAlthough the CVSS base score is medium, the flaw affects a very large installed base of Intel processors, has public exploit code, and carries a very high EPSS probability.
What it is
CVE-2017-5715 is the Spectre variant 2 flaw in Intel microprocessors that use speculative execution and indirect branch prediction. A local attacker can use side-channel analysis to read data that the processor speculatively accessed, potentially exposing sensitive information from other processes or the kernel. The issue affects a broad range of Intel Atom, Celeron, Pentium, Core, and Xeon products.
Impact
An attacker with local user access can disclose information from memory that should not be accessible, including secrets belonging to other processes or the operating system. The CVSS vector shows high confidentiality impact with no integrity or availability impact.
Attack surface
The attack is local (AV:L) and requires low privileges (PR:L) with no user interaction (UI:N). It is reached by executing crafted code on the same system and measuring timing or other side-channel effects.
Exploitation
CISA KEV does not list this CVE, but EPSS is very high (0.74041, 99.459th percentile) and a public proof-of-concept is referenced, indicating active interest and available exploit code.
What to do
- Apply vendor microcode and operating system updates that implement mitigations for Spectre variant 2.
- Enable available kernel and hypervisor mitigations such as retpoline, IBRS, or IBPB where supported.
- Limit local interactive access and enforce least privilege to reduce the number of users who can run side-channel code.
- Consider disabling simultaneous multithreading (SMT) on systems where the risk of cross-thread leakage is unacceptable.
- Monitor vendor advisories for updated firmware and software fixes for affected Intel processor families.
Detection
- Monitor for execution of known Spectre proof-of-concept binaries or unusual high-resolution timing code.
- Audit systems for missing microcode or kernel patches related to CVE-2017-5715.
- Track local user behavior that repeatedly measures cache or branch timing, which may indicate side-channel probing.
This assessment is produced automatically and is not human-reviewed. Verify against the vendor advisory before acting on it.
Affected products
150 vulnerable configurations from NVD's CPE data, grouped by vendor and product.
References
Track CVE-2017-5715 inside VULONE
Watch it alongside the ransomware crews, C2 infrastructure and forum chatter that reference it, query it through the API and pull it into your SIEM over TAXII.
Related vulnerabilities
Same products first, then exploited flaws of the same weakness class.
Source: NIST National Vulnerability Database (record CVE-2017-5715), CISA KEV, FIRST EPSS (scores of 2026-09-26). This page is refreshed as NVD updates the record.