CVE-2017-5753: Spectre
A CPU hardware vulnerability (bounds check bypass) affecting a broad range of processors from Intel, AMD, and ARM. By mistraining a CPU's branch predictor, an attacker can get speculative execution to run past a legitimate bounds check with attacker-chosen data, then recover the out-of-bounds value through a cache-timing side channel, even though the speculative result is architecturally discarded.
View the authoritative record on NVD ↗Affected software
- A broad range of Intel, AMD, and ARM processors implementing speculative execution and branch prediction (disclosed 2017-2018)
How it's exploited
Repeatedly train a target branch predictor with in-bounds accesses so the CPU speculatively predicts a later, attacker-controlled access is also in-bounds, causing it to speculatively read out-of-bounds memory; recover the value through a cache-timing side channel before the speculative result is rolled back.
Severity
CVE-2017-5753 carries a CVSS 3.1 base score of 5.6, rated Medium. See how CVSS scoring works or score a vulnerability yourself with the free CVSS calculator.
Weakness type
CVE-2017-5753 is categorized under CWE-203, the general weakness pattern behind this specific vulnerability.
Where this fits in a TurboPentest engagement
TurboPentest's agentic pentest is powerful and covers a broad range of issues automatically. This particular class is best confirmed in a manual IntegSec engagement, where human pentesters apply deeper methodology and a larger context window than any automated pass.
Remediation
Apply compiler-level mitigations (speculative load hardening, bounds-check masking such as LFENCE insertion) in addition to OS and browser patches; unlike Meltdown, full mitigation requires code-level changes in addition to vendor patches, since the underlying speculative-execution behavior is architectural.
Frequently asked questions
What is CVE-2017-5753?
A CPU hardware vulnerability (bounds check bypass) affecting a broad range of processors from Intel, AMD, and ARM. By mistraining a CPU's branch predictor, an attacker can get speculative execution to run past a legitimate bounds check with attacker-chosen data, then recover the out-of-bounds value through a cache-timing side channel, even though the speculative result is architecturally discarded.
How severe is CVE-2017-5753?
CVE-2017-5753 has a CVSS 3.1 base score of 5.6 out of 10, rated Medium.
What software is affected by CVE-2017-5753?
CVE-2017-5753 affects A broad range of Intel, AMD, and ARM processors implementing speculative execution and branch prediction (disclosed 2017-2018).
How do you fix CVE-2017-5753?
Apply compiler-level mitigations (speculative load hardening, bounds-check masking such as LFENCE insertion) in addition to OS and browser patches; unlike Meltdown, full mitigation requires code-level changes in addition to vendor patches, since the underlying speculative-execution behavior is architectural.
Where is the authoritative record for CVE-2017-5753?
The National Vulnerability Database (NVD) publishes the authoritative record for CVE-2017-5753 at https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2017-5753, including the current CVSS score, CWE mapping, and affected-configuration data.
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About this reference
These security references are maintained by IntegSec, an offensive-security firm whose team holds CISSP, OSCP, and OSCE certifications and has run thousands of penetration tests. Content is kept current as tools, standards, and attack techniques evolve.
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