CVE-2026-20738

Privilege Escalation via Pointer Dereference in Intel QuickAssist Adapter 8960 Software

Published May 12, 2026 CVSS 4.0 · 8.5 High EPSS < 1% KEV · Not listed
Description
Untrusted pointer dereference for some Intel(R) QuickAssist Adapter 8960 software before version 1.13 within Ring 3: User Applications may allow an escalation of privilege. Unprivileged software adversary with an authenticated user combined with a low complexity attack may enable escalation of privilege. This result may potentially occur via local access when attack requirements are not present without special internal knowledge and requires no user interaction. The potential vulnerability may impact the confidentiality (high), integrity (high) and availability (high) of the vulnerable system, resulting in subsequent system confidentiality (none), integrity (none) and availability (none) impacts.

Remediation

No solution or workaround provided in the CVE record

Tracking

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Advisories

No advisories available
History
Type Values Removed Values Added
First Time appeared Intel
Intel quickassist Adapter 8960
Vendors & Products Intel
Intel quickassist Adapter 8960
Type Values Removed Values Added
Metrics ssvc

{'options': {'Automatable': 'no', 'Exploitation': 'none', 'Technical Impact': 'total'}, 'version': '2.0.3'}

Type Values Removed Values Added
Title Privilege Escalation via Pointer Dereference in Intel QuickAssist Adapter 8960 Software
Type Values Removed Values Added
Description Untrusted pointer dereference for some Intel(R) QuickAssist Adapter 8960 software before version 1.13 within Ring 3: User Applications may allow an escalation of privilege. Unprivileged software adversary with an authenticated user combined with a low complexity attack may enable escalation of privilege. This result may potentially occur via local access when attack requirements are not present without special internal knowledge and requires no user interaction. The potential vulnerability may impact the confidentiality (high), integrity (high) and availability (high) of the vulnerable system, resulting in subsequent system confidentiality (none), integrity (none) and availability (none) impacts.
Weaknesses CWE-822
References
Metrics cvssV4_0

{'score': 8.5, 'vector': 'CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N'}

Weaknesses

Sources

Status
PUBLISHED
Assigner
intel
Published
Updated
May 13, 2026, 3:57 AM
Reserved
Dec 4, 2025, 4:00 AM
Status
Awaiting Analysis
Published
May 12, 2026, 5:16 PM
Modified
Jun 17, 2026, 10:17 AM