How to update Intel Management Engine firmware?

If the Intel chipset embedded in your system has Intel Management Engine, this article will be helpful to you. Here, we will discuss how to update Intel Management Engine firmware on Windows PC. Intel Management Engine is a microcontroller embedded in some Intel chipsets. It provides a variety of features and services for Intel processor-based computer systems.

What is Intel Management Engine (Intel ME)?

The Intel Management Engine, also called Intel ME, is a microcontroller integrated into some Intel chipsets. It runs a lightweight microkernel operating system that provides various features and services for Intel processor-based computer systems. Some of the features of Intel Management Engine include low power and out-of-band services, anti-theft protection, protected audio video path, etc.

You can consider it a parallel operating system that has access to your computer’s hardware. It runs when your computer is asleep, booting up, and when your operating system is running. At the time of system initialization, it loads its code from the system’s flash memory, which allows it to be up before your computer’s main operating system is started.

The power states of the Intel Management Engine or Intel ME are independent of the power states of the host operating system. Due to this feature, it remains up even when the microprocessor and other system components are in sleep states. Hence, it can respond to the OOB (Out-of-band Management) commands from the IT Management Console without waking up the rest of the system.

You can check the version number of Intel Management Engine firmware by going into your system BIOS.

How to update Intel Management Engine firmware

You can update Intel Management Engine firmware by downloading the latest patch from the official website of your computer manufacturer. If an updated patch for Intel Management Engine firmware is released by your computer manufacturer, the same will be available on the official website. You can download the update from there and install it manually by running the installer file. Visit the official website of your computer manufacturer and enter your computer’s model number. If the Intel ME is embedded in your system and the firmware update for the same is released by the manufacturer for your system model, you will be able to download it.

One more thing you should note here is the update for Intel Management Engine firmware should be compatible with your Windows OS version. Instead of adding your product model number and other information manually, you can also use the auto-detection feature. The auto-detection feature will detect your system’s configuration and model number.

When should I update the Intel Management Engine firmware?

Previously, security vulnerabilities were found in Intel Management Engine. These security loopholes were detected by external researchers. After that, Intel performed a comprehensive security review on Intel ME, Intel TXE, and Intel SPS, and found that these security vulnerabilities could potentially impact certain computers, servers, and IoT platforms. Systems using Intel ME Firmware versions 6.x-11.x, servers using SPS Firmware version 4.0, and systems using TXE version 3.0 are impacted.

You can check whether these vulnerabilities could impact your system or not with the help of Intel CSME Version Detection Tool. This tool is available for download on the official website of Intel. After downloading this tool, extract the downloaded folder and then open the GUI folder. Now, run the EXE file. If the results say that your system is vulnerable, you should update Intel ME. If there is no vulnerability detected by this tool, there is no need to update Intel ME. However, you can check for the update If the update is available, you can install it.

Do note that, you can download the latest update patch for Intel ME only from the official website of your computer manufacturer. There could be some websites on the internet that offer the latest patch of Intel ME. But you should avoid downloading the latest patch from untrusted or unauthorized websites.

I hope this helps.