CVE-2021-0158
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 · uneditedImproper input validation in the BIOS firmware for some Intel(R) Processors may allow a privileged user to potentially enable escalation 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 confidenceThis is an improper input validation vulnerability in BIOS firmware for certain Intel processors that allows a privileged local user to escalate their privileges. The vulnerability exists in the firmware layer and could allow an attacker with high-level local access to gain additional privileges beyond what they were initially granted.
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 CPU modelUse system information tools (such as 'lscpu' on Linux, 'systeminfo' on Windows, or check BIOS/UEFI setup) to determine the exact processor modelAffected if The CPU model matches any of these: Intel Celeron N2805, N2806, N2807, N2808, N2810, N2815, N2820, N2830
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Verify CPU stepping if availableCheck CPU stepping or revision information via 'lscpu' or CPU-Z on Windows; Intel may list specific steppings affectedAffected if CPU stepping falls within any Intel-documented affected range for this CVE
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Check BIOS versionEnter BIOS/UEFI setup (typically by pressing F2, Del, or F12 during boot) or use tools like 'dmidecode' on Linux to read BIOS versionAffected if All versions of these specific Celeron models are affected regardless of BIOS version, as the vulnerability exists in the firmware layer
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Confirm local privileged access exposureReview who has physical access to the machine and which users have BIOS administrative privilegesAffected if Any untrusted or unauthorized user has physical access or BIOS admin rights, they could potentially exploit this vulnerability
If your system uses any of the affected Intel Celeron N2805 through N2830 processors, you are affected by this vulnerability in all BIOS versions.
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 Intel-supplied BIOS/firmware updates for affected processors. Since this requires local access and privileged user status to exploit, ensure proper physical security and restrict BIOS administrative access to only necessary personnel.
- 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.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-0158 — 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-2021-0158 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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