In 2022, security experts found a big issue in Intel’s Active Management Technology (AMT), labeled as CVE-2022-29893. It’s about a *bad authentication check* in some versions of Intel’s AMT firmware, which can let bad actors with some access gain even more power—*remotely* over the network.

Let’s break down what this means, how someone could misuse it, and what you can do to protect systems.

What is Intel AMT?

Intel AMT (Active Management Technology) is a part of Intel’s vPro platform used inside business laptops, desktops, and servers. It lets IT managers control, repair, or wipe computers—even if they’re powered off or their main OS is corrupted.

This gives great power to admins, but if AMT gets hacked, that means a hacker is practically inside your computer at a very deep level.

16.1.25

Before these updates, AMT didn’t always check authentication as strictly as it should have. That means, if someone could connect to AMT *and* had a regular user account (not an admin), they could trick AMT into giving them higher privileges—*full control* over the computer.

In short: “An authenticated but low-level AMT user could escalate privilege over the network.”

Source: Intel Security Advisory

Here’s a *simplified* flow of how someone could exploit this

1. Get AMT access: The attacker remotely connects over the network to a target’s AMT interface. This could happen if AMT is enabled and reachable (like in corporate networks).
2. Login as low-privilege user: They authenticate using credentials for a regular AMT user (not an admin).
3. Trigger the Vulnerability: The attacker sends a crafted network request (exploit packet) that tricks the firmware into letting them run admin-only commands.

Example Exploit (Pseudocode)

To make this clearer, here's what a real world exploit might look like, written in Python-like pseudocode. This isn’t a real/weaponized exploit, but it shows the concept:

import requests

amt_host = "https://target-amt-ip:16993";
username = "regular_amt_user"
password = "user_password"

# Start session
session = requests.Session()
session.auth = (username, password)

# Step 1: Login as low-priv user
login_response = session.get(f"{amt_host}/wsman")

if login_response.status_code != 200:
    print("Cannot login")
    exit()

# Step 2: Send malicious SOAP request to abuse privilege escalation flaw
exploit_soap_payload = """<s:Envelope...>
    <!-- Payload crafted to trigger the auth bypass -->
</s:Envelope>"""

headers = {'Content-Type': 'application/soap+xml'}

exploit_response = session.post(f"{amt_host}/wsman",
                                data=exploit_soap_payload, headers=headers)

if exploit_response.status_code == 200:
    print("Exploit succeeded, AMT admin access gained!")
else:
    print("Exploit failed.")

Note: Real-world exploitation would involve more details and network packet crafting, but the idea is that with regular credentials, special requests could bypass AMT's expected checks and grant admin rights.

Is The Exploit Public?

*Code like above is for educational demonstration.* As of now, there aren’t widespread “plug and play” public exploits available—Intel and security researchers are keeping details close, but advanced attackers can reverse engineer the firmware to attack unpatched systems.

However, vulnerabilities like this are regularly used in “red team” engagements or targeted intrusions where an attacker has some access to the corporate network and can scan for exposed AMT ports (typically 16992, 16993, 623, 664).

You may be at risk if

- You have AMT/vPro devices with old firmware (from the list above or lower).

Here’s how to check and fix

1. Check your AMT firmware version (usually through your BIOS/UEFI setup or Intel’s tools).

Original References

- Intel Security Advisory INTEL-SA-00700
- NIST NVD CVE-2022-29893
- Intel AMT Product Info

Conclusion

CVE-2022-29893 is a reminder that device firmware can be a powerful target for hackers—especially if it lets attackers jump from low-level accounts to full control over your systems, just using the network. It only needs a foothold: an attacker with access to AMT (like a low-privilege user or leaked password) could become “remote admin.”

Update AMT firmware. Audit access. And always restrict remote management interfaces to where they're truly needed.

Timeline

Published on: 11/11/2022 16:15:00 UTC
Last modified on: 11/17/2022 15:42:00 UTC