CVE-2021-0153
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 · uneditedOut-of-bounds write in the BIOS firmware for some Intel(R) Processors may allow a privileged user to potentially enable aescalation of privilege via local 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 confidenceAn out-of-bounds write vulnerability exists in the BIOS firmware for certain Intel processors. A privileged local user could exploit this memory corruption issue to escalate their privileges on the affected system. The vulnerability resides in the BIOS/UEFI firmware layer, making it a firmware-level security issue rather than an operating system or application flaw.
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
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/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 the CPU modelRun 'dmidecode -s processor-version' or check /proc/cpuinfo to identify the exact CPU modelAffected if The CPU is NOT one of: Intel Core i9-10900x, 10920x, 10940x, 10980xe, or Xeon E5-1603 V4, 1607 V4, 1620 V4, 1630 V4 - if so, this CVE does not apply
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Check the BIOS vendor and versionRun 'dmidecode -s bios-version' to retrieve the current BIOS/UEFI firmware version installed on the systemAffected if Any unpatched BIOS version is potentially vulnerable since all versions of the affected CPU firmware are listed as vulnerable
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Verify BIOS vendor and firmware update statusCheck the system vendor documentation or run 'dmidecode -s system-manufacturer' and 'dmidecode -s bios-vendor' to identify the OEM, then consult the OEM support site for available BIOS updates addressing CVE-2021-0153Affected if The BIOS has not been updated with the vendor's patch for this specific CVE; unpatched BIOS firmware on affected CPUs indicates vulnerability
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Confirm BIOS/UEFI is not in a known vulnerable configurationAccess the BIOS/UEFI setup (typically via F2, F12, or Delete on boot) and verify the BIOS is the current version released after the CVE disclosure dateAffected if The BIOS firmware predates the CVE-2021-0153 patch release and no update has been applied
You are affected if your system uses any of the listed Intel Core i9 or Xeon E5 V4 processor models and the BIOS firmware has not been updated with the vendor's security patch for CVE-2021-0153.
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 Intel firmware update or OEM-provided BIOS/UEFI update for affected processors. Coordinate firmware updates across the infrastructure, as BIOS updates typically require system downtime and carry inherent risk, requiring careful planning and testing in enterprise environments.
- Consultation8.0 h
- Implementation16.0 h
- Testing8.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $10,240.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-0153 — 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-2021-0153 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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