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Attack ChainAIDerived

Hypothetical attack flow derived from CVE metadata – not a confirmed exploit chain

  1. Access
    Gain physical access to target board
  2. Delivery
    Insert specially crafted device
  3. Exploit
    Abuse improperly initialized memory interface
  4. Execution
    Read/write arbitrary system memory
  5. Impact
    Extract secrets or implant persistent code

Vulnerability Assessment

Weakness
CWE
ASVS 5.0
V15 - Secure Coding and Architecture Proper initialization
Exploitation Conditions

Requires physical proximity and the ability to insert a specially crafted hardware device into one of the affected ASUS motherboards (Prime Z390-A, Prime Z390-A/H10, ROG Maximus XI Hero/Hero Wi-Fi/Formula/Code/Extreme/Apex/Gene, ROG Strix Z390-E/F Gaming, Pro WS C246 ACE, WS Z390 Pro). The root cause is improper initialization (CWE-665) of a memory-access interface that fails to restrict the inserted device's DMA/memory access. No authentication (PR:N) and no user interaction (UI:N) are required once physical access is obtained, and complexity is low (AC:L). The decisive limiting factor is AV:P - the attack is impossible remotely or over a network and demands hands-on access to the specific hardware, confining realistic exploitation to evil-maid, supply-chain, repair, or shared-physical-access scenarios.

Impact

This is a genuinely high-impact but tightly-gated hardware flaw. The CVSS 4.0 vector (AV:P/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H) scores 7.0 and reflects the central tension: the technical impact is severe - arbitrary memory read AND write, i.e. full confidentiality and integrity compromise (likely DMA-class, enabling secret extraction, secure-boot/credential bypass, or persistent implant) - but the attack vector is Physical (AV:P), which is the single strongest limiting factor. An attacker must be physically present to insert a specially crafted device. There is no EPSS score, no CISA KEV listing, and no public exploit (POC) identified in the provided data, so by the precision rules the exploitation status is 'no public exploit identified at time of analysis.' SSVC data is not provided. The combination of PR:N/AC:L (no credentials, low complexity once physical access is achieved) means that in evil-maid, supply-chain, repair-shop, or shared-workstation scenarios this is realistically exploitable, but it cannot be exploited remotely or at scale. Net assessment: a real priority for high-security endpoints and physically exposed machines, but low urgency for the general fleet versus a remote RCE - the AV:P gate, not the raw impact, should drive patch prioritization. Note the 'Information Disclosure' tag understates impact, since the flaw also permits arbitrary memory WRITE (integrity).

Exploit ScenarioDerived

An attacker with brief physical access to a powered or bootable ASUS Z390-generation motherboard (e.g. an unattended ROG Maximus XI workstation, an 'evil maid' hotel scenario, or a device intercepted in the supply/repair chain) inserts a specially crafted peripheral device. Due to improper initialization (CWE-665) of a memory-access interface, the device is granted arbitrary read/write to system memory, allowing extraction of encryption keys/credentials or implantation of persistent malicious code. No public exploit code is identified at time of analysis, and the attack requires low complexity but genuine physical proximity.

This Week Schedule remediation this week. Why: HIGH severity (CVSS 7.0-8.9).
No patch listed yet 0.2% exploitation probability (EPSS)

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AnalysisAIv1 – Oct 01, 2026

Physical access to a range of ASUS Z390-era motherboards - Prime Z390-A, Prime Z390-A/H10, the ROG Maximus XI family (Hero, Hero Wi-Fi, Formula, Code, Extreme, Apex, Gene), ROG Strix Z390-E/F Gaming, Pro WS C246 ACE and WS Z390 Pro - allows an attacker to read and write arbitrary host memory by inserting a specially crafted device, because the platform fails to correctly initialize the protections governing device memory access. The CVSS v4.0 vector (AV:P/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H, scope unchanged) confirms high confidentiality, integrity and availability impact with no authentication or user interaction required once hands-on access is obtained, but the decisive limiting factor is AV:P: the flaw is unreachable remotely or over a network and is realistically confined to evil-maid, supply-chain, repair-shop or shared-physical-access scenarios. ASUS is credited as the reporter and the vendor security advisory at https://www.asus.com/security-advisory is the authoritative reference; no public exploit identified at time of analysis.

RemediationAI

No vendor-released patch version is identified in the provided data, so the primary action is to check the ASUS security advisory at https://www.asus.com/security-advisory and apply the latest BIOS/firmware release for the specific board model (Prime Z390-A, ROG Maximus XI series, ROG Strix Z390-E/F Gaming, Pro WS C246 ACE, WS Z390 Pro) as soon as ASUS publishes it; because the CPE version fields are wildcards, verifying the installed BIOS revision against the advisory is essential rather than assuming a given board is already fixed. Until a corrected firmware is available and deployed, apply compensating controls in this order: explicitly enable IOMMU/DMA remapping (Intel VT-d/DMAR) in firmware setup where the option exists and ensure the OS enforces it, accepting that on a board whose initialization path is defective this may not fully close the hole and can introduce device-compatibility or virtualization performance regressions; disable or, where the board layout permits, physically de-populate unused Thunderbolt/PCIe hot-plug interfaces, with the trade-off of losing those expansion ports; and restrict hands-on access through locked chassis, tamper-evident seals, port blockers and monitored physical entry, since AV:P means the entire attack surface disappears without physical access. Note that simply relying on the OS-level IOMMU after boot may be insufficient if the firmware never initializes the unit correctly, so firmware remediation remains the definitive fix; no public exploit code was identified at time of analysis, which lowers - but does not eliminate - the urgency of the physical-access hardening steps above.

Affected VersionsENISA

Motherboard(ROG STRIX Z390-E GAMING ) through 2101
Motherboard(Pro WS C246-ACE ) through 2101
Motherboard(ROG MAXIMUS XI CODE ) through 2101
Motherboard(WS Z390 PRO ) through 1401
Motherboard(PRIME Z390-A ) through 2101
Motherboard(ROG MAXIMUS XI EXTREME ) through 2101
Motherboard(PRIME Z390-A/H10 ) through 2101
Motherboard(ROG MAXIMUS XI GENE ) through 2101
Motherboard(ROG STRIX Z390-F GAMING ) through 2101
Motherboard(ROG MAXIMUS XI HERO ) through 2101
Motherboard(ROG MAXIMUS XI HERO (WI-FI) ) through 2101
Motherboard(ROG MAXIMUS XI APEX ) through 2101
Motherboard(ROG MAXIMUS XI FORMULA ) through 2101

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Technical ContextAI · show details

The root cause is CWE-665 (Improper Initialization) in the firmware/platform bring-up path of these ASUS motherboards, which are built on the Intel Z390/C246 chipset generation (9th-gen Core / Xeon E platform). Memory-access protections such as the IOMMU/DMA remapping unit (Intel VT-d / DMAR) are supposed to be programmed during early firmware initialization so that a hot-plugged or newly enumerated PCIe/Thunderbolt device is confined to the address ranges it legitimately owns. Here that initialization is missing or incomplete, so a crafted device inserted into an exposed slot is not constrained and can issue DMA transactions that read from or write to arbitrary physical memory - which, from the running OS's perspective, translates into arbitrary read/write of kernel and user memory. The CVSS v4.0 vector describes a physical attack vector (AV:P), low attack complexity (AC:L), no attack requirements beyond insertion of the device (AT:N), no privileges (PR:N) and no user interaction (UI:N); the sub-sequent metrics (SC:N/SI:N/SA:N) indicate the impact does not propagate beyond the vulnerable host system, while the high VC/VI/VA values reflect full loss of confidentiality, integrity and availability on that system. Exploitation requires the crafted device to be physically present during boot or hot-plug, which is why assets with unmonitored physical access (kiosks, lab machines, shared workstations, devices in transit) carry the greatest residual risk.

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Severity by source

Vendor (ASUS) PRIMARY 7.0 HIGH
CVSS:4.0/AV:P/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
vuln.today AI 6.8 MEDIUM

Physical device insertion gives AV:P; no credentials or interaction needed (PR:N/UI:N) and low complexity; arbitrary memory read/write yields full C/I/A with no scope change.

3.1 AV:P/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
4.0 AV:P/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N

Primary rating from Vendor (ASUS).

CVSS VectorVendor: ASUS

Attack Vector
Physical
Attack Complexity
Low
Attack Requirements
None
Privileges Required
None
User Interaction
None
Vulnerable system: Confidentiality
High
Vulnerable system: Integrity
High
Vulnerable system: Availability
High
Subsequent system: Confidentiality
None
Subsequent system: Integrity
None
Subsequent system: Availability
None

DescriptionCVE.org

Improper initialization in an ASUS certain motherboard allows an physically proximate user to read or write arbitrary memory by inserting a specially crafted device.

Executive ViewAI

Why It Matters

ASUS Z390-era motherboards, including Prime Z390-A, ROG Maximus XI, ROG Strix Z390, and Pro WS models, contain a high-severity physical-access flaw that lets an attacker with brief hands-on access read and alter host memory by inserting a crafted device. Organizations using these systems in shared, repair, supply-chain, or otherwise physically accessible environments face potential confidentiality, integrity, and availability loss, although the issue is not remotely exploitable; no public exploit identified at time of analysis. Leadership should treat this as a physical-security and trusted-supply-chain risk requiring immediate inventory and access controls until ASUS provides remediation.

Business Impact: High
Compensating Controls

No vendor-released patch identified at time of analysis. Interim mitigations include strict physical access controls and tamper-evident seals, trusted chain-of-custody for repair and service, restriction or disabling of unused external device ports where feasible, monitoring for unauthorized hardware insertion, and monitoring the ASUS security advisory for vendor-released mitigations or patches.

Threat Intelligence Overview

EPSS Score
0.2%
Top 96% exploitable
Prevalence
Medium
popular ASUS Z390-era consumer/enthusiast and workstation motherboards, specific model range
Data Quality
6 sources
Confidence: High

How this decision was reached

The engine reads each signal below and applies a fixed list of rules from top to bottom. The first rule that matches sets the recommended action – like a statement, every line is shown.

SignalValue
Severity HIGH
CISA KEV No
Public POC No
EPSS 0.2%
Patch available No
Active threat No
Deciding rule
HIGH severity (CVSS 7.0-8.9)
What every action level means
Emergency Immediate action required. Criteria: CRITICAL + in CISA KEV (actively exploited) without patch, OR CRITICAL + EPSS > 30% without patch, OR CRITICAL + active threat signals without patch.
Act Now Prioritize within 24-48h. Criteria: in KEV with patch available, OR CRITICAL + public POC, OR HIGH + EPSS > 10%, OR CRITICAL + active threat, OR any CRITICAL severity.
This Week Schedule remediation this week. Criteria: HIGH severity (CVSS 7.0-8.9). Patch within normal change window.
This Month Plan within 30 days. Criteria: MEDIUM severity (CVSS 4.0-6.9), lower exploitation probability. Include in regular patch cycle.
Monitor Track and reassess. Criteria: LOW severity (CVSS 0.1-3.9), minimal exploitation risk. No immediate action needed.

SSVC AssessmentENISA

SSVC Decision
Scheduled
Exploitation
None
System Exposure· derived
Small
Automatable
No
Human Impact
High
Technical Impact
Total

Priority Score

35
Low Medium High Critical
KEV: 0
EPSS: 0
CVSS: +35
PoC: 0
Weaponized: 0
Threat intel: 0
Gov advisory: 0

Attack Technique

Information disclosure occurs when an application unintentionally exposes sensitive data that aids attackers in reconnaissance or directly compromises security.

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