CVE-2019-11098
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 · uneditedInsufficient input validation in MdeModulePkg in EDKII may allow an unauthenticated user to potentially enable escalation of privilege, denial of service and/or information disclosure via physical 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 · moderate confidenceInsufficient input validation in MdeModulePkg (a core UEFI firmware component in EDKII) could allow an unauthenticated user with physical access to potentially achieve privilege escalation, denial of service, or information disclosure. The vulnerability stems from improper validation of inputs in the firmware module, which when exploited via physical access could bypass security boundaries.
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 dataall versionsCVSS 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
- Physical
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:P/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify if the system uses EDKII-based UEFI firmwareCheck the system firmware/BIOS information screen during boot or in the BIOS setup utility for references to Tianocore, EDKII, or UEFI. On Linux, run 'dmidecode -s bios-vendor' and 'dmidecode -s bios-version' to examine the firmware vendor and version. On Windows, check 'System Information' or use 'firmwaretable' tools.Affected if The firmware is identified as Tianocore, EDKII, or an implementation known to be based on EDKII source code.
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Confirm MdeModulePkg component presence in firmwareExamine the UEFI firmware image or capsule if accessible. On systems with UEFI shell available, use 'dmi' or 'devtree' commands to list installed UEFI drivers and modules. Look for entries containing 'MdeModulePkg' or related memory or variable services modules.Affected if The MdeModulePkg module or its components are found within the loaded UEFI firmware.
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Verify physical access controls on the affected systemAssess the physical security posture of the system: check for locked chassis, tamper-evident seals, secure room access, or KVM locks. Review any physical access logs or badge entry records for the system location.Affected if The system lacks adequate physical access controls and could be accessed by unauthorized individuals.
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Check for UEFI variable services configurationExamine UEFI variable store settings via firmware setup or tools like 'efivar' on Linux (run 'efivar -l' to list variables). Focus on variables related to boot services, runtime services, and driver ordering that MdeModulePkg manages.Affected if UEFI variable services are enabled and accessible, particularly if secure boot is not properly configured.
The system is affected if it runs any version of Tianocore EDKII-based UEFI firmware with MdeModulePkg present and lacks sufficient physical access controls, since exploitation requires physical access to the system.
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 dataControl physical access to affected systems and apply vendor-provided UEFI/firmware patches when available. For systems where patches are unavailable, implement additional physical security controls and monitor for unauthorized access.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation16.0 h
- Testing12.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2019-11098 — 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-2019-11098 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
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- 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
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