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Intel Management Engine--also referred as Intel ME-- is an anonymous system integrated into Intel CPU’s since 2008 that’s always running either from the battery or power supply (regardless if powered off), containing it’s own operating system called MINUX, internet connection, and booting sequence that's refereed as (). All of these components allow Intel ME to do the following;<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |first=402 Payment Required |date=2023-06-29 |title=Intel Management Engine |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQ8k79yNH2A |url-status=live |access-date=2026-02-03 |website=Youtube}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Portnoy |first=Erica |last2=Eckersley |first2=Peter |date=2017-05-08 |title=Intel's Management Engine is a security hazard, and users need a way to disable it |url=https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2017/05/intels-management-engine-security-hazard-and-users-need-way-disable-it |url-status=live |access-date=2026-02-03 |website=Electronic Frontier Foundation}}</ref>
Intel Management Engine--also referred as Intel ME-- is an anonymous system integrated into Intel CPU’s since 2008 that’s always running either from the battery or power supply (regardless if powered off), containing it’s own operating system called MINUX, internet connection, and booting sequence that's refereed as (). All of these components allow Intel ME to do the following;


*Records Keystrokes & mouse movements
*Records Keystrokes & mouse movements
Line 21: Line 20:
*Access all data passed through CPU & RAM
*Access all data passed through CPU & RAM
*Bypass Firewalls
*Bypass Firewalls
*Change Settings on any operating system and BIOS.
*Access the internet and do [[wikipedia:Data_exfiltration|data exfiltration]] (Even if turned off via BIOS or Operating System)
Additionally, Intel ME also contains several measures to check if it's been tampered with. Several of these conclude being inaccessible to the machine BIOS or chosen Operating System, scanning the entire machine every 30 minutes to verify if signature is signed or else the entire machine shutdown, and making it exceptionally difficult to reverse engineer.


Intel claims Intel ME is however the full purpose of Intel ME is unknown.
Intel claims Intel ME is however the full purpose of Intel ME is unknown.
Line 26: Line 30:
==Security==
==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.
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.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9BBXBZ5Ifs showcase 1 (2007-09-20)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=joeEBJeUfbk showcase 2  (both ysainthilaire
{| class="wikitable"
{| class="wikitable"
|+
|+
|Date
|Date
|Description
|Description
|Outcome
|CVE
|-
|-
|
|2009
|
|Developed by Invisible Things Lab, it was discovered that a bug allowed it to access the machine memory. <ref>{{Cite web |date=2008-08-26 |title=Intel patches the Q35 bug |url=https://theinvisiblethings.blogspot.com/2008/08/intel-patches-q35-bug.html |url-status=live |access-date=2026-02-03 |website=The Invisible Things Lab's blog}}</ref><ref name=":0" /><ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last=Robin |first=Thibaud |date=2025-03-02 |title=The Mysterious Story of a Troubling Intel Chip |url=https://blog.trackflaw.com/en/the-mysterious-story-of-a-disturbing-intel-flea/ |url-status=live |access-date=2026-02-03 |website=TrackFlaw}}</ref>
|
|CVE-2008-1234
|-
|-
|
|2010
|
|An individual by the name of Vassilios Vereris discovered an bypass that allow attackers to remotely enable Intel AMT.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite web |date=2026-02-03 |title=Disabling Intel ME in Firmware |url=https://ecrsecurity.com/files/DisableIntelME.pdf |url-status=live |access-date=2026-02-03 |website=ecrsecurity}}</ref><ref name=":2" />
|
|'''Can't Find'''
|-
|2017
|Discovered by Maksim Malyutin from Embedi, a bug in Intel AMT allows an hacker to gain admin privileges from a remote location.<ref name=":0" /> Reportedly, Intel new about this more than 5 years prior from the report SemiAccurate gave to intel, however it was dismissed for unknown reasons.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Demerjian |first=Charlie |date=2017-05-01 |title=Remote security exploit in all 2008+ Intel platforms |url=https://www.semiaccurate.com/2017/05/01/remote-security-exploit-2008-intel-platforms/ |url-status=live |access-date=2026-02-03 |website=SemiAccurate}}</ref> <ref>{{Cite web |last=Armasu |first=Lucian |date=2017-05-02 |title=Intel AMT Vulnerability Shows Intel’s Management Engine Can Be Dangerous |url=https://www.tomshardware.com/news/intel-amt-vulnerability-me-dangerous,34300.html |url-status=live |access-date=2026-02-03 |website=Tom's Hardware}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-01-11 |title=The Vulnerability Uncovered |url=https://umatechnology.org/intel-amt-vulnerability-business-laptops-can-be-exploited-in-mere-seconds/ |url-status=live |access-date=2026-02-03 |website=UMA Technology}}</ref><ref name=":0" />
|CVE-2017-5689.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2017-05-02 |title=CVE-2017-5689 Detail |url=https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/cve-2017-5689 |url-status=live |access-date=2026-02-03 |website=Nist}}</ref>
|-
|2018
|Researchers at F-Secure discovered an exploit regarding Intel AMT that allows an hacker with physical access to the machine to bypass an user, BIOS, Bitlocker, and TPM passwords in a matter of 30 seconds. This bug is more severe against corporate laptops. <ref name=":3">{{Cite web |last=Waldman |first=Arielle |date=2020-09-09 |title=Intel patches critical flaw in Active Management Technology |url=https://www.techtarget.com/searchsecurity/news/252488831/Intel-patches-critical-flaw-in-Active-Management-Technology |url-status=live |access-date=2026-02-03 |website=TechTarget}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Ashford |first=Warwick |date=2018-01-18 |title=F-Secure highlights another critical Intel security issue |url=https://www.computerweekly.com/news/450433078/F-secure-highlights-another-critical-Intel-security-issue |url-status=live |access-date=2026-02-03 |website=TechTarget}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Subramaniam |first=Vaidyanathan |date=2018-01-14 |title=Gone in 30 seconds: New Intel AMT exploit is scarier than you can ever fathom |url=https://www.notebookcheck.net/Gone-in-30-seconds-New-Intel-AMT-exploit-is-scarier-than-you-can-ever-fathom.278216.0.html |url-status=live |access-date=2026-02-03 |website=Notebook Check}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Armasu |first=Lucian |date=2018-01-12 |title=Intel AMT Allows BitLocker Bypass In Under A Minute |url=https://www.tomshardware.com/news/intel-amt-bitlocker-bios-bypass,36321.html |url-status=live |access-date=2026-02-03 |website=Tom's Hardware}}</ref>
|no CVE number
|-
|2020
|Several vulnerabilities were found in Intel AMT that allows hackers to add a root kit. <ref name=":3" /><ref>{{Cite web |last=Larabe |first=Michael |date=2020-09-08 |title=Intel AMT Hit By Another "Critical" Security Vulnerability |url=https://www.semiaccurate.com/2016/01/20/intel-puts-out-secure-cpus-based-on-insecurity/ |url-status=live |access-date=2026-02-03 |website=phoronix}}</ref>
|CVE 2020-0535<ref>{{Cite web |first=National Vulnerability Database |date=2020-06-15 |title=CVE-2020-0535 Detail |url=https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2020-0535 |url-status=live |access-date=2026-02-03 |website=nist.gov}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |first=National Vulnerability Database |date=2020-06-15 |title=CVE-2020-0531 |url=https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2020-0531 |url-status=live |access-date=2026-02-03 |website=Nist}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |first=Intel |date=2020-11-10 |title=2020.2 IPU – Intel® CSME, SPS, TXE, AMT and DAL Advisory |url=https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/security-center/advisory/intel-sa-00391.html |url-status=live |access-date=2026-02-03 |website=Intel}}</ref> 
|}
|}


==Hidden Deals==
==Hidden Deals==
{{Ph-C-Inc}}
{{Ph-C-Inc}}
On date, year,  it was revealed that the National Security Agency secretly contacted Intel to provide a CPU without the Intel ME, stating it was for governmental usage". 
intel advance management technology
This is a list of all consumer-protection incidents related to this product. Any incidents not mentioned here can be found in the [[:Category:{{PAGENAME}}|{{PAGENAME}} category]].
This is a list of all consumer-protection incidents related to this product. Any incidents not mentioned here can be found in the [[:Category:{{PAGENAME}}|{{PAGENAME}} category]].


Line 69: Line 94:
https://www.csoonline.com/article/562761/researchers-say-now-you-too-can-disable-intel-me-backdoor-thanks-to-the-nsa.html intel response to backdoor accusa
https://www.csoonline.com/article/562761/researchers-say-now-you-too-can-disable-intel-me-backdoor-thanks-to-the-nsa.html intel response to backdoor accusa


https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2017/05/intels-management-engine-security-hazard-and-users-need-way-disable-it
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPC5f7EJN6U
 
<ref name=":1" />
 


https://leeneubecker.com/intels-secret-backdoor-can-now-be-turned-off/
https://leeneubecker.com/intels-secret-backdoor-can-now-be-turned-off/


https://hackaday.com/2017/12/11/what-you-need-to-know-about-the-intel-management-engine/
https://hackaday.com/2017/12/11/what-you-need-to-know-about-the-intel-management-engine/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZpXkJqTAY5Y
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQ8k79yNH2A
turn all the above links into references, though as of writing this i do not have will power to continue.
[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]
[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]

Revision as of 23:44, 3 February 2026

This section is incomplete. This notice can be deleted once all the placeholder text has been replaced.

❗Article Status Notice: This Article is a stub

This article is underdeveloped, and needs additional work to meet the wiki's Content Guidelines and be in line with our Mission Statement for comprehensive coverage of consumer protection issues. Learn more ▼

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


Intel Management Engine--also referred as Intel ME-- is an anonymous system integrated into Intel CPU’s since 2008 that’s always running either from the battery or power supply (regardless if powered off), containing it’s own operating system called MINUX, internet connection, and booting sequence that's refereed as (). All of these components allow Intel ME to do the following;[1][2]

  • Records Keystrokes & mouse movements
  • Bypass encryption
  • See what’s currently displayed on the screen
  • Turn your machine on or off
  • Access all data passed through CPU & RAM
  • Bypass Firewalls
  • Change Settings on any operating system and BIOS.
  • Access the internet and do data exfiltration (Even if turned off via BIOS or Operating System)


Additionally, Intel ME also contains several measures to check if it's been tampered with. Several of these conclude being inaccessible to the machine BIOS or chosen Operating System, scanning the entire machine every 30 minutes to verify if signature is signed or else the entire machine shutdown, and making it exceptionally difficult to reverse engineer.

Intel claims Intel ME is however the full purpose of Intel ME is unknown.

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.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9BBXBZ5Ifs showcase 1 (2007-09-20)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=joeEBJeUfbk showcase 2 (both ysainthilaire

Date Description CVE
2009 Developed by Invisible Things Lab, it was discovered that a bug allowed it to access the machine memory. [3][1][4] CVE-2008-1234
2010 An individual by the name of Vassilios Vereris discovered an bypass that allow attackers to remotely enable Intel AMT.[1][5][4] Can't Find
2017 Discovered by Maksim Malyutin from Embedi, a bug in Intel AMT allows an hacker to gain admin privileges from a remote location.[1] Reportedly, Intel new about this more than 5 years prior from the report SemiAccurate gave to intel, however it was dismissed for unknown reasons.[6] [7][8][1] CVE-2017-5689.[9]
2018 Researchers at F-Secure discovered an exploit regarding Intel AMT that allows an hacker with physical access to the machine to bypass an user, BIOS, Bitlocker, and TPM passwords in a matter of 30 seconds. This bug is more severe against corporate laptops. [10][11][12][13] no CVE number
2020 Several vulnerabilities were found in Intel AMT that allows hackers to add a root kit. [10][14] CVE 2020-0535[15][16][17]

Hidden Deals

Add one-paragraph summaries of incidents below in sub-sections, which link to each incident's main article while linking to the main article and including a short summary. It is acceptable to create an incident summary before the main page for an incident has been created. To link to the page use the "Hatnote" or "Main" templates.

If the company has numerous incidents then format them in a table (see Amazon for an example).

Add your text below this box. Once this section is complete, delete this box by clicking on it and pressing backspace.


On date, year, it was revealed that the National Security Agency secretly contacted Intel to provide a CPU without the Intel ME, stating it was for governmental usage".


intel advance management technology

This is a list of all consumer-protection incidents related to this product. Any incidents not mentioned here can be found in the Intel Management Engine category.

Example incident one (date)

Main article: link to the main CR Wiki article

Short summary of the incident (could be the same as the summary preceding the article).

Example incident two (date)

...

Tools and Tips

While Intel ME is normally not possible to be disable (except in some cases),there has been tool’s and tips made to allow disabling part of its system.

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 "Intel Management Engine". Youtube. 2023-06-29. Retrieved 2026-02-03. {{cite web}}: |first= missing |last= (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  2. ↑ Portnoy, Erica; Eckersley, Peter (2017-05-08). "Intel's Management Engine is a security hazard, and users need a way to disable it". Electronic Frontier Foundation. Retrieved 2026-02-03.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  3. ↑ "Intel patches the Q35 bug". The Invisible Things Lab's blog. 2008-08-26. Retrieved 2026-02-03.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Robin, Thibaud (2025-03-02). "The Mysterious Story of a Troubling Intel Chip". TrackFlaw. Retrieved 2026-02-03.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  5. ↑ "Disabling Intel ME in Firmware" (PDF). ecrsecurity. 2026-02-03. Retrieved 2026-02-03.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  6. ↑ Demerjian, Charlie (2017-05-01). "Remote security exploit in all 2008+ Intel platforms". SemiAccurate. Retrieved 2026-02-03.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  7. ↑ Armasu, Lucian (2017-05-02). "Intel AMT Vulnerability Shows Intel's Management Engine Can Be Dangerous". Tom's Hardware. Retrieved 2026-02-03.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  8. ↑ "The Vulnerability Uncovered". UMA Technology. 2025-01-11. Retrieved 2026-02-03.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  9. ↑ "CVE-2017-5689 Detail". Nist. 2017-05-02. Retrieved 2026-02-03.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Waldman, Arielle (2020-09-09). "Intel patches critical flaw in Active Management Technology". TechTarget. Retrieved 2026-02-03.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  11. ↑ Ashford, Warwick (2018-01-18). "F-Secure highlights another critical Intel security issue". TechTarget. Retrieved 2026-02-03.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  12. ↑ Subramaniam, Vaidyanathan (2018-01-14). "Gone in 30 seconds: New Intel AMT exploit is scarier than you can ever fathom". Notebook Check. Retrieved 2026-02-03.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  13. ↑ Armasu, Lucian (2018-01-12). "Intel AMT Allows BitLocker Bypass In Under A Minute". Tom's Hardware. Retrieved 2026-02-03.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  14. ↑ Larabe, Michael (2020-09-08). "Intel AMT Hit By Another "Critical" Security Vulnerability". phoronix. Retrieved 2026-02-03.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  15. ↑ "CVE-2020-0535 Detail". nist.gov. 2020-06-15. Retrieved 2026-02-03. {{cite web}}: |first= missing |last= (help)CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  16. ↑ "CVE-2020-0531". Nist. 2020-06-15. Retrieved 2026-02-03. {{cite web}}: |first= missing |last= (help)CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  17. ↑ "2020.2 IPU – Intel® CSME, SPS, TXE, AMT and DAL Advisory". Intel. 2020-11-10. Retrieved 2026-02-03. {{cite web}}: |first= missing |last= (help)CS1 maint: url-status (link)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lr-9aCMUXzI

https://www.csoonline.com/article/562761/researchers-say-now-you-too-can-disable-intel-me-backdoor-thanks-to-the-nsa.html intel response to backdoor accusa

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPC5f7EJN6U

[1]


https://leeneubecker.com/intels-secret-backdoor-can-now-be-turned-off/

https://hackaday.com/2017/12/11/what-you-need-to-know-about-the-intel-management-engine/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZpXkJqTAY5Y

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQ8k79yNH2A


turn all the above links into references, though as of writing this i do not have will power to continue.

  1. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named :1
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