CVE-2021-0190
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 · uneditedUncaught exception 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 confidenceThis is a BIOS firmware vulnerability in certain Intel processors where an uncaught exception can be exploited by a user with existing privileged access to further elevate their privileges. The attack requires local access to the system, meaning physical proximity or a local shell, and the attacker must already have privileged (administrative) privileges before exploiting this vulnerability.
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 installed processor modelRun 'dmidecode -s processor-version' on Linux or 'wmic cpu get name' on Windows to identify the CPU modelAffected if The processor model matches Intel Core i9 10900x, 10920x, 10940x, 10980xe, or Intel Xeon E5 1603 V4, 1607 V4, 1620 V4, 1630 V4
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Verify BIOS/firmware versionRun 'dmidecode -s bios-version' on Linux or 'wmic bios get version' on Windows to retrieve the current BIOS firmware versionAffected if Any BIOS version is present on an affected processor (all versions of these processors are vulnerable)
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Confirm system model matches affected platformsCross-reference the processor with the system's platform documentation or run 'dmidecode -s system-product-name' to verify the platform uses one of the affected Intel processorsAffected if The system uses a platform containing one of the listed affected processors
If the system contains an Intel Core i9 10900x/10920x/10940x/10980xe or Intel Xeon E5 1603/1607/1620/1630 V4 processor, the environment is affected by this vulnerability regardless of BIOS 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 Intel firmware update for affected processors; this typically involves obtaining the correct BIOS/UEFI firmware version from Intel's support site and flashing the system BIOS, preferably in a controlled environment with backups and tested rollback procedures.
- 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-2021-0190 — 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-2021-0190 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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