CVE-2020-8323
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 · uneditedA potential vulnerability in the SMI callback function used in the Legacy SD driver in some Lenovo ThinkPad, ThinkStation, and Lenovo Notebook models may allow arbitrary code execution.
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 confidenceThis is a firmware-level vulnerability in Lenovo systems affecting the System Management Interrupt (SMI) callback function within the Legacy SD driver. SMI handlers execute at the highest privilege level (SMM), allowing arbitrary code execution that can bypass OS-level security and persist deeply in the system firmware.
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 versionsall versionsall versionsall versionsall versionsall versionsall versionsall 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
- 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 Lenovo system modelRun 'systeminfo' on Windows or check /sys/class/dmi/id/product_name on Linux to get the exact model nameAffected if The model matches any of these: 330 14ast, 330 15ast, 330 17ast, 340c 15api, 340c 15ast, 720s Touch 15ikb, 720s 15ikb, 730s 13iwl
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Verify the exact model suffixMatch the full model string (including suffix like 14ast, 15api, 15ikb, 13iwl) against the affected listAffected if The full model number matches one of the eight affected model variants exactly
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Confirm firmware versionOn Windows, use 'wmic bios get smbiosbiosversion' or check the BIOS/UEFI setup screen. On Linux, check /sys/class/dmi/id/bios_versionAffected if Any firmware version is present on an affected model (Lenovo states all versions are vulnerable)
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Check for Legacy SD card reader functionalityThis is a firmware-level component in the Legacy SD driver SMI handler. The vulnerability exists regardless of whether SD cards are actively usedAffected if The system has the vulnerable firmware image containing the Legacy SD driver SMI callback
You are affected if your Lenovo system model matches any of these exact variants: 330 14ast, 330 15ast, 330 17ast, 340c 15api, 340c 15ast, 720s Touch 15ikb, 720s 15ikb, or 730s 13iwl, regardless of firmware version.
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 dataApply the vendor-supplied BIOS/firmware update from Lenovo for affected ThinkPad, ThinkStation, and Notebook models. Verify the current firmware version against the Lenovo security advisory.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $5,120.
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-8323 — 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-2020-8323 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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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
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