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Ethernet Controller I225 It FirmwareOperating system · Intel

CVE-2021-33158

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
Improper neutralization 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

Improper input neutralization in Intel Ethernet Adapter and I225 Controller manageability firmware allows a privileged user to escalate privileges via local access. This is a firmware-level vulnerability where insufficient input validation likely enables command injection or similar attacks, granting higher privileges than the attacker's current level.

MitigationUpdate Intel Ethernet Adapter and I225 Manageability firmware to versions with the security fix. Since exploitation requires local access and privileged user status, limit physical and console access to trusted personnel and follow least-privilege principles.

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 I225 Ethernet controller in the system
    Run 'lspci | grep -i ethernet' or check Device Manager to enumerate network adapters. Look for 'Intel Ethernet Controller I225' or similar I225 product names.
    Affected if No Intel I225 controller is found, then this CVE does not apply to the system.
  2. Check the firmware version of the Intel I225 controller
    Use Intel firmware update tools (e.g., 'Intel Ethernet Flash Firmware Utility' or 'BootUtil') or access the controller via manageability interface (e.g., Intel AMT, IPMI) to read the current firmware version. Compare against the affected version 1.87.
    Affected if The installed firmware version is below 1.87 for It, Lm, or V variants.
  3. Check Intel Ethernet Adapter Complete Driver version
    Open Device Manager, right-click the Intel network adapter, select Properties, go to the Driver tab, and note the driver version. Alternatively, run 'driverquery | findstr -i intel' or check Intel PROSet/adapter properties.
    Affected if The driver version is below 29.0.1.
  4. Verify manageability firmware features are enabled
    Check if Intel Manageability features (Intel AMT, Intel Endpoint Management Assistant) are active on the system. This can be verified via BIOS settings, Windows Services (Intel Manageability), or the manageability interface configuration.
    Affected if Manageability features are enabled and the I225 firmware or driver version is vulnerable, as the vulnerability exists in the manageability firmware component.

The system is affected if it contains an Intel Ethernet Controller I225 with firmware version below 1.87 or driver version below 29.0.1, and manageability features are enabled.

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 Intel Ethernet Adapter and I225 Manageability firmware to versions with the security fix. Since exploitation requires local access and privileged user status, limit physical and console access to trusted personnel and follow least-privilege principles.

Recommended fix High confidence

Intel Ethernet Controller I225 Firmware >= 1.87, Intel Ethernet Adapter Complete Driver >= 29.0.1

  1. Identify the current firmware version of the Intel Ethernet Controller I225 (It, Lm, or V variant)
  2. Identify the current Ethernet Adapter driver version installed on the system
  3. Download the Intel Ethernet Controller I225 firmware version 1.87 or later from Intel's support website
  4. Download the Intel Ethernet Adapter Complete Driver version 29.0.1 or later from Intel's support website
  5. Apply the firmware update to the Intel Ethernet Controller I225 using Intel's recommended firmware update procedure
  6. Install the updated Ethernet Adapter driver version 29.0.1 or later
  7. Reboot the system to ensure the updates take effect
  8. Verify the firmware and driver versions have been successfully updated

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
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
18.0 hours of engineering $3,200
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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-2021-33158 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