CVE-2020-5363
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 · uneditedSelect Dell Client Consumer and Commercial platforms include an issue that allows the BIOS Admin password to be changed through Dell's manageability interface without knowledge of the current BIOS Admin password. This could potentially allow an unauthorized actor, with physical access and/or OS administrator privileges to the device, to gain privileged access to the platform and the hard drive.
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 client platforms contain a vulnerability in the manageability interface that allows changing the BIOS Admin password without knowing the current password, bypassing authentication controls. An attacker with physical access or OS administrator privileges can exploit this to gain privileged access to the platform and hard drive.
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< 1.9.4< 1.9.4< 1.7.4< 1.8.4< 1.7.4< 1.8.4< 1.8.0< 1.6.0CVSS 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
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/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 your Dell Latitude modelRun 'dmidecode -s system-product-name' on Linux, check System Information on Windows, or look at the machine labelAffected if The model is one of: Latitude 5300, 5300 2-in-1, 5400, 5401, 5500, 5501, 7200 2-in-1, or 7220
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Check your current BIOS/firmware versionRun 'dmidecode -s bios-version' on Linux, or check BIOS setup utility under Main or Information tab on any OSAffected if The version is below the threshold for your model (5300/5300 2-in-1: <1.9.4, 5400: <1.7.4, 5401: <1.8.4, 5500: <1.7.4, 5501: <1.8.4, 7200 2-in-1: <1.8.0, 7220: <1.6.0)
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Determine if the manageability interface is enabledEnter BIOS setup (press F2 at boot), navigate to Security or Advanced settings, look for Intel AMT, Intel Management Engine, or Manageability Interface settingsAffected if The manageability interface feature is turned on or set to Enabled
You are affected if you have one of the listed Latitude models with firmware below the specified version AND the manageability interface is enabled in your BIOS.
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 data1.6.01.7.41.8.0
Apply Dell firmware/security updates for affected platforms. Consider disabling Dell's manageability interface if not required, and enforce physical security controls to limit unauthorized access.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation6.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-5363 — 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-2020-5363 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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