CVE-2020-26186
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 · uneditedDell Inspiron 5675 BIOS versions prior to 1.4.1 contain a UEFI BIOS RuntimeServices overwrite vulnerability. A local attacker with access to system memory may exploit this vulnerability by overwriting the RuntimeServices structure to execute arbitrary code in System Management Mode (SMM).
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 confidenceDell Inspiron 5675 BIOS versions prior to 1.4.1 contain a memory corruption vulnerability allowing a local attacker with system memory access to overwrite the UEFI RuntimeServices structure and achieve arbitrary code execution in System Management Mode (SMM), a highly privileged CPU mode operating below the OS.
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< 1.4.1CVSS 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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Confirm system modelOpen Command Prompt and run: wmic computersystem get model,manufacturer or check the physical system labelAffected if System is not a Dell Inspiron 5675 - if different model, this CVE does not apply
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Retrieve installed BIOS versionOpen Command Prompt and run: wmic bios get smbiosbiosversion or check BIOS setup screen on boot (press F2)Affected if Unable to retrieve BIOS version - cannot determine vulnerability status
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Compare BIOS version against 1.4.1Check the version returned from the previous step against 1.4.1 - note that version strings may need numerical comparisonAffected if BIOS version is less than 1.4.1 (for example, 1.3.0, 1.2.5, etc.) - system is vulnerable to RuntimeServices memory corruption
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Verify SMM exposure (optional context)This vulnerability requires a local attacker with system memory access - check physical security and boot chain integrityAffected if Attacker has physical access to open the system and manipulate memory - combined with vulnerable BIOS version, enables SMM code execution
The system is affected only if it is a Dell Inspiron 5675 with BIOS version lower than 1.4.1; all other models or versions at/above 1.4.1 are not affected by this CVE.
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 data1.4.1
Update Dell Inspiron 5675 BIOS to version 1.4.1 or later to patch the RuntimeServices overwrite vulnerability. Given the CVSS 6.8 severity and SMM code execution impact, prioritize this update in patching schedules.
- 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.
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-26186 — 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-2020-26186 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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