Introduction
Privilege escalation on production servers can undermine isolation between workloads and compromise sensitive data. In the case of CVE-2025-22840, a vulnerability in Intel Xeon 6 Scalable processors, authenticated users may be able to gain elevated privileges through a specific sequence of processor instructions.
About Intel and Xeon 6 Scalable Processors: Intel is a global leader in processor manufacturing, with its Xeon line powering a significant share of enterprise, cloud, and high-performance computing systems. The Xeon 6 Scalable series is designed for demanding data center workloads and is widely adopted by organizations worldwide. Intel's processor vulnerabilities have had broad industry impact in the past, making this issue particularly relevant for security teams.
Technical Information
CVE-2025-22840 is classified under CWE-1281: Sequence of Processor Instructions Leads to Unexpected Behavior. The vulnerability is triggered when a specific sequence of processor instructions is executed on affected Intel Xeon 6 Scalable processors. This sequence can cause the processor to behave in an unintended manner, potentially allowing an authenticated local user to escalate privileges. The underlying flaw is related to the processor's handling of instruction sequences and its internal state management. No further microarchitectural or code-level details have been made public at this time.
Affected Systems and Versions
- Intel Xeon 6 Scalable processors (exact model numbers and steppings are not specified in public sources)
- Only systems with these processors are affected
- The vulnerability requires local authenticated access for exploitation
Vendor Security History
Intel has previously faced high-profile vulnerabilities in its processor lines, including speculative execution flaws such as Meltdown, Spectre, and Foreshadow. The vendor typically responds with microcode updates and detailed advisories. Intel maintains a public vulnerability disclosure program and regularly issues security advisories for processor-related issues.