CVE-2020-8695

What it actually does

Observable discrepancy in the RAPL power interface permits a local privileged process to infer sensitive data such as cryptographic keys through side-channel analysis of power telemetry.

Why it matters to the business

Organizations running the listed Intel processors face risk of local information leakage that could expose encryption material or other secrets, increasing the chance of data compromise on affected systems; the issue remains unpatched in the supplied fixed versions and has shown no widespread exploitation to date.

How an attack unfolds

An attacker with local access and sufficient privileges reads RAPL interface values, measures timing or power differences across repeated operations, and statistically reconstructs secret data such as keys used in cryptographic routines.

How to fix it

Apply the latest Intel microcode updates through operating-system or firmware vendor channels for each affected processor model; where microcode is unavailable, restrict local access and monitor for privileged process behavior that queries power interfaces.

How to confirm the fix worked

Verify that updated microcode revisions are loaded after reboot, confirm RAPL interface values no longer exhibit the measurable discrepancy under test workloads, and review vendor firmware release notes for the specific processor families listed.

Typical attack path

1. Obtain local shell or process execution on the target system
2. Escalate privileges to a level permitted to access RAPL MSRs
3. Repeatedly invoke cryptographic operations while sampling RAPL counters
4. Analyze observed discrepancies to recover secret material

How to detect it

Review system logs for repeated or anomalous accesses to RAPL-related model-specific registers by user-space processes; correlate with process execution timelines on affected hardware.

What your security team should do

• Prioritize deployment of current microcode packages on all systems using the enumerated Intel Core processors
• Limit local privileged accounts and monitor for unexpected access to power-management interfaces
• Incorporate microcode version checks into patch compliance reporting