dbcve.org
FedoraOperating system · Fedoraproject

CVE-2019-0160

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2019-03-27
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

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 · unedited
Buffer overflow in system firmware for EDK II may allow unauthenticated user to potentially enable escalation of privilege and/or denial of service via network access.

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 · high confidence

A buffer overflow vulnerability exists in EDK II (UEFI Development Kit II) system firmware. An unauthenticated remote attacker can exploit this flaw via network access to potentially achieve privilege escalation or cause denial of service conditions. The critical CVSS score of 9.8 reflects the severity of remote, unauthenticated code execution possibility at the firmware level.

MitigationApply the vendor-supplied EDK II firmware patch or BIOS/UEFI update. If patches are unavailable, isolate affected systems on network segments with restricted access and implement additional monitoring. Given the firmware-level nature, physical access or authenticated administrative access is typically required for remediation, emphasizing the need for controlled deployment processes.

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
FedoraOperating system
Affected:= 30
Enterprise LinuxOperating system
Affected:= 8.0
Enterprise Linux EusOperating system
Affected:= 8.1= 8.2= 8.4
Enterprise Linux ServerOperating system
Affected:= 7.0
Enterprise Linux Server AusOperating system
Affected:= 8.2= 8.4
Enterprise Linux Server TusOperating system
Affected:= 8.2= 8.4
Edk IiApplication
Affected:all versions
LeapOperating system
Affected:= 15.0

CVSS 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
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify the operating system version
    Run 'cat /etc/os-release' or 'hostnamectl' to confirm the installed OS version
    Affected if The OS is Fedora 30, RHEL 7.0, RHEL 8.0-8.4 (any stream), or openSUSE Leap 15.0
  2. Check if EDK II firmware is present
    Examine UEFI firmware information using 'dmidecode -s bios-version' or check /sys/class/dmi/id/ for bios vendor and version details
    Affected if The system uses EDK II-based UEFI firmware (common in modern servers and workstations) and the firmware version matches an unpatched build
  3. Identify the UEFI firmware vendor and version
    Run 'efibootmgr -v' or check the vendor-specific tool (e.g., 'ls /sys/firmware/efi') to confirm UEFI mode, then use vendor tools or 'dmidecode' to retrieve the exact firmware version
    Affected if The firmware version is older than vendor-supplied patches for CVE-2019-0160 and the firmware is EDK II-based
  4. Check for Tianocore EDK II in Linux environments
    On affected distributions, inspect the installed edk2 or edk2-ovmf packages using 'rpm -qa | grep -i edk2' or 'dpkg -l | grep -i edk2'
    Affected if EDK II packages are installed and the version is older than the patched releases for the affected OS versions
  5. Verify network-exposed UEFI services
    Check if IPMI, Redfish, or other remote management interfaces are enabled using 'ipmiutil sel' or checking BMC/web interface accessibility
    Affected if Remote network management interfaces are exposed without network segmentation, as the vulnerability can be exploited via network access to these services

A system is affected if it runs Fedora 30, RHEL 7.0/8.0-8.4, or openSUSE Leap 15.0 with EDK II-based UEFI firmware that has not been updated with the vendor patch for CVE-2019-0160.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

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 data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Apply the vendor-supplied EDK II firmware patch or BIOS/UEFI update. If patches are unavailable, isolate affected systems on network segments with restricted access and implement additional monitoring. Given the firmware-level nature, physical access or authenticated administrative access is typically required for remediation, emphasizing the need for controlled deployment processes.

Fix this in Fedora Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation8.0 h
  • Implementation12.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
30.0 hours of engineering $5,380
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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2019-0160 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

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.

What belongs here
  • 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