CVE-2015-2890
Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.
NVD · uneditedThe BIOS implementation on Dell Latitude, OptiPlex, Precision Mobile Workstation, and Precision Workstation Client Solutions (CS) devices with model-dependent firmware before A21 does not enforce a BIOS_CNTL locking protection mechanism upon being woken from sleep, which allows local users to conduct EFI flash attacks by leveraging console access, a similar issue to CVE-2015-3692.
Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.
dbcve analysis · moderate confidenceThe BIOS implementation on affected Dell devices (Latitude, OptiPlex, Precision Mobile Workstation, and Precision Workstation CS) with firmware versions before A21 does not enforce BIOS_CNTL locking protection when waking from sleep, allowing local users with console access to conduct EFI flash attacks.
Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.
Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.
NVD · CPE data<= a20<= a12<= a15<= a18<= a14= a13<= a11<= a10<= a17CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.
From the vector- Attack vector
- Local
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- High
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- None
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:H
Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.
dbcve checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
-
Identify your Dell system modelRun 'dmidecode -s system-product-name' or check the system label/sticker to confirm it is one of: Latitude, OptiPlex, Precision Mobile Workstation, or Precision Workstation CSAffected if The system is not one of these four Dell product lines, then it is not affected by this CVE
-
Check the installed BIOS firmware versionRun 'dmidecode -s bios-version' to retrieve the current BIOS version installed on the systemAffected if No BIOS version is returned or command fails, preventing version comparison
-
Compare your BIOS version against affected rangesMatch your product model to its affected version ceiling: Latitude/OptiPlex/Precision models <= A20, A12, A15, A18, A14, A13, A11, A10, or A17 depending on the specific product line. Check if your version is at or below the applicable threshold for your modelAffected if Your installed BIOS version is at or below the affected version threshold for your specific Dell product model, indicating potential vulnerability
-
Determine if sleep functionality is enabledCheck system power settings: on Linux run 'systemctl sleep' or examine /sys/power/state; on Windows check Power Options in Control Panel for sleep/hibernate availabilityAffected if Sleep or hibernation is enabled on the system, which is a required condition for the attack vector described in the CVE
You are affected if your system is a Dell Latitude, OptiPlex, Precision Mobile Workstation, or Precision Workstation CS with a BIOS version at or below the affected threshold for your specific model and with sleep/hibernate functionality enabled.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.
From vendor dataUpdate BIOS firmware to version A21 or later on all affected Dell devices to enforce BIOS_CNTL locking protection after waking from sleep.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation3.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,272.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2015-2890 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2015-2890 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.
A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.
- Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
- No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data