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Ethernet Controller I225 It FirmwareOperating system · Intel

CVE-2021-33145

HIGH · 7.2 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-02-23
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 1.87 / 29.0.1 or later.
See remediation →
74/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Zero-click

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 · unedited
Uncaught exception in some Intel(R) Ethernet Adapters and Intel(R) Ethernet Controller I225 Manageability firmware 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 confidence

An uncaught exception vulnerability exists in the firmware of Intel Ethernet Adapters and Intel Ethernet Controller I225 Manageability. This flaw allows a privileged local user to potentially escalate their privileges by exploiting the improper exception handling in the manageability firmware component.

MitigationUpdate the Intel Ethernet Adapter and I225 Manageability firmware to the patched version provided by Intel through their support portal or using Intel's firmware update utilities.

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
Ethernet Controller I225 It FirmwareOperating system
Affected:< 1.87
Ethernet Controller I225 Lm FirmwareOperating system
Affected:< 1.87
Ethernet Controller I225 V FirmwareOperating system
Affected:< 1.87
Ethernet Adapter Complete DriverApplication
Affected:< 29.0.1

CVSS 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
High
Privileges
High
User interaction
None
Scope
Changed
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:N/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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify Intel Ethernet I225 hardware in the system
    Use system inventory tools (such as lspci -nn on Linux or Device Manager on Windows) to list network adapters and look for Intel Ethernet Controller I225 variants (It, Lm, or V)
    Affected if An Intel Ethernet Controller I225 (It, Lm, or V) adapter is present in the system
  2. Check the I225 firmware version
    Use Intel firmware update utilities, network adapter firmware tools, or OEM management interfaces to query the current firmware version of the I225 adapter. Alternatively, use ethtool -i <interface> on Linux to retrieve firmware version information
    Affected if The installed firmware version is lower than 1.87 (for example, 1.86, 1.80, etc.)
  3. Check the Intel Ethernet Adapter Complete Driver version
    On Windows, open Device Manager, locate the Intel Ethernet adapter, view driver details, and note the driver version. On Linux, use ethtool -i <interface> or check the driver module information via modinfo
    Affected if The installed driver version is lower than 29.0.1

The system is affected if it contains an Intel Ethernet Controller I225 (It, Lm, or V) with firmware version below 1.87, or if the Intel Ethernet Adapter Complete Driver is below version 29.0.1, and the manageability firmware component is enabled and accessible to a privileged local user.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

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.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 1.87 / 29.0.1 or later
Fixed in 1.8729.0.1
Interim mitigation

Update the Intel Ethernet Adapter and I225 Manageability firmware to the patched version provided by Intel through their support portal or using Intel's firmware update utilities.

Recommended fix High confidence

Ethernet Controller I225 firmware >= 1.87 and Ethernet Adapter Complete Driver >= 29.0.1

  1. Identify the specific I225 variant (IT, LM, or V) currently deployed
  2. Determine the current firmware version using Intel's firmware update utility or system management tools
  3. Download Intel Ethernet Controller I225 firmware version 1.87 or later from intel.com/support
  4. Update the firmware using Intel's appropriate firmware update tool (e.g., Intel Ethernet Firmware Update Tool or Intel® NVM Update Utility)
  5. For the Ethernet Adapter Complete Driver, update to version 29.0.1 or later via Intel's driver download page or your system update mechanism
  6. Verify the firmware and driver versions have been successfully updated after the update process completes
Caveat Firmware updates may require system downtime and should be tested in a non-production environment first; ensure backup of current firmware before updating

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Ethernet Controller I225 It Firmware Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
14.0 hours of engineering $2,490
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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2021-33145 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

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.

What belongs here
  • 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
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data