Intel Management Engine

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Intel Management Engine

Basic Information
Release Year	2008
Product Type	Surveillance, Security, Computers, Articles in Need of Additional Work
In Production	Yes
Official Website	https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/homepage.html

The Intel Management Engine (ME) is an embedded microcontroller integrated into Intel's chipsets since 2008. From version 11 onwards, it runs a (closed-source) modified version of MINIX as its operating system..

The ME is able to access the LAN adapter, giving it access to networks the system is connected to, both wired and wireless.

The power state of the ME is independent from the rest of the system, allowing it to run while the system is turned off, assuming that the system is still receiving power.

Additionally, Intel ME also contains several measures to check if it's been tampered with. These include being inaccessible to the machine BIOS or OS, scanning the entire machine every 30 minutes to verify if signature is signed (otherwise shutting down the system)^[source?], and making it exceptionally difficult to reverse engineer.

Intel AMT

One of the services utilizing the capabilities of the Intel ME is Intel Active Management (AMT). It is part of a set of technologies marketed as Intel vPro. Intel AMT is built into most modern Intel CPUs, including but not limited to the Intel Core i5, Intel Core i7, Intel Core M, and Intel Xeon series. The AMT has full access to the system and can bypass system firewalls. By default, AMT is enabled, on supported chips. AMT support is listed under the "Security & Reliability" section on the intel product website (example).

Booting Process

AMT allows remote management of the system by using the ME's network access, exposing 2 ports through which commands can be issued. Some of the many features of the AMT are:

• Access to hardware information

• Remote power control
• Boot control
• Wake-on-LAN/Wake on wireless LAN
• Remote Schedule Maintenance (outside firewall)
• KVM (keyboard, video, mouse) remote control
• Updating firmware

Security

Intel ME follows security by obscurity, a concept that if people are unable to view the code, then it makes it more secure, however it's known to be ineffective and posing a huge security risks. Leaves many of these vulnerabilities unpatchable.

Date	Description	CVE
2009	A "Ring -3 Rootkit" for the Q35 chipset was demonstrated by Invisible Things Lab, allowing an attacker to execute code, even when Intel AMT was disabled in the BIOS. The bug was subsequently patched by Intel.	No CVE
2010	An individual by the name of Vassilios Vereris discovered an bypass that allow attackers to remotely enable Intel AMT.	No CVE
2017	Discovered by Maksim Malyutin from Embedi, a bug in Intel AMT allows a hacker to gain admin privileges from a remote location. Reportedly, Intel was aware of this more than 5 years prior to the report SemiAccurate gave to Intel, however it was dismissed for unknown reasons.	CVE-2017-5689.
2018	Researchers at F-Secure discovered an exploit regarding Intel AMT that allows a hacker with physical access to the machine to bypass the user, BIOS, Bitlocker, and TPM passwords in a matter of 30 seconds. This bug is more severe against corporate laptops.	No CVE
2020	Several vulnerabilities were found in Intel AMT, allowing hackers to add a root kit.	CVE 2020-0535

Hidden Deals

Around 2017, an undocumented flag was discovered that, when set, disables a large portion of the ME. This feature appears to have been requested by the NSA.

Tools and Tips

There is no official method to disable the ME, however there have been tools and tips developed to allow (partially) disabling the ME.

• ME Cleaner Tool
• Using an CPU or Computer made before 2008
• Buying Computers with Intel ME disabled like Purism and System76

See also

• AMD Platform Security Processor
• Intel CPUs stability issue