CVE-2021-3661
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 · uneditedA potential security vulnerability has been identified in certain HP Workstation BIOS (UEFI firmware) which may allow arbitrary code execution. HP is releasing firmware mitigations for the potential vulnerability.
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 confidenceA vulnerability in HP Workstation BIOS/UEFI firmware allows arbitrary code execution, potentially enabling attackers to gain persistent control at the firmware level with high privileges.
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= 01.31= 01.83= 01.08.01= 01.03.00_rev_a= 01.08.01= 01.03.00_rev_a= 01.03.00_rev_a= 01.08.01CVSS 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
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/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 HP Workstation modelCheck the product label on the device, or run 'wmic computersystem get model' or 'systeminfo | findstr /C:"System Model"' in Windows. On Linux, check 'dmidecode -s system-product-name'.Affected if The model is not one of: Z1 All In One G3, Z2 Mini G3/G4/G5, Z2 Small Form Factor G4/G5/G8, or Z2 Tower G4.
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Check the current BIOS/UEFI firmware versionAccess the BIOS/UEFI setup at startup (press Esc or F10), look under 'BIOS Version' or 'System Information'. Alternatively, use 'wmic bios get smbiosbiosversion' on Windows or 'dmidecode -s bios-version' on Linux.Affected if Unable to retrieve a firmware version number.
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Verify the exact firmware version matches an affected releaseCompare your retrieved firmware version against the list: Z1 G3 = 01.31, Z2 Mini G3 = 01.83, Z2 Mini G4 = 01.08.01, Z2 Mini G5 = 01.03.00_rev_a, Z2 SFF G4 = 01.08.01, Z2 SFF G5 = 01.03.00_rev_a, Z2 SFF G8 = 01.03.00_rev_a, Z2 Tower G4 = 01.08.01.Affected if The installed firmware version equals one of these exact versions.
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Confirm the vulnerability applies only to the listed models and versionsIf your model is listed but the version differs, note that only the exact versions shown are affected. If your model is not in the list, this CVE does not apply.Affected if Your model appears in the affected list AND the installed version exactly matches the version in the affected list.
You are affected only if you have one of the listed HP Workstation models (Z1 G3, Z2 Mini G3/G4/G5, Z2 SFF G4/G5/G8, Z2 Tower G4) and the installed BIOS/UEFI firmware version exactly matches the corresponding version in the affected list.
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 HP-provided firmware updates for affected Workstation models as released by HP; verify no regressions after deployment.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation6.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-3661 — 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-2021-3661 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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