Elite Dragonfly FirmwareOperating system · Hp

CVE-2021-3808

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-02-01
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
80/100
Remediation priority · High
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
Potential security vulnerabilities have been identified in the BIOS (UEFI Firmware) for certain HP PC products, which might allow arbitrary code execution. HP is releasing firmware updates to mitigate these potential vulnerabilities.

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 · low confidence

Vulnerability in HP PC BIOS (UEFI Firmware) allows arbitrary code execution. The specific vulnerability type and technical details are not disclosed in available documentation. This is a firmware-level flaw affecting certain HP systems.

MitigationApply HP-supplied BIOS/UEFI firmware updates to affected systems. Verify the current BIOS version on each system and cross-reference with HP's affected product list before updating.

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
Elite Dragonfly FirmwareOperating system
Affected:= 01.12.00
Elite X2 1012 G2 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:= 1.41
Elite X2 1013 G3 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:= 01.19.00
Elite X2 G4 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:= 01.12.00
Elitebook 1040 G4 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:= 1.41
Elitebook 1050 G1 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:= 01.19.00
Elitebook 725 G4 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:= 1.4
Elitebook 735 G5 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:= 01.20.00

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
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 checks

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

  1. Identify your HP system model
    Run `wmic csproduct get name` on Windows or `dmidecode -s system-product-name` on Linux to get the exact model name
    Affected if The model is not one of: Elite Dragonfly, Elite X2 1012 G2, Elite X2 1013 G3, Elite X2 G4, Elitebook 1040 G4, Elitebook 1050 G1, Elitebook 725 G4, Elite Elitebook 735 G5 (not affected)
  2. Retrieve the current BIOS version
    On Windows, run `wmic bios get smbiosbiosversion` or check via BIOS setup (F10 at startup). On Linux, run `dmidecode -s bios-version`
    Affected if No version can be retrieved or BIOS is not accessible for inspection
  3. Compare your BIOS version to affected list
    Check the version you retrieved against the affected versions: Elite Dragonfly = 01.12.00, Elite X2 1012 G2 = 1.41, Elite X2 1013 G3 = 01.19.00, Elite X2 G4 = 01.12.00, Elitebook 1040 G4 = 1.41, Elitebook 1050 G1 = 01.19.00, Elitebook 725 G4 = 1.4, Elitebook 735 G5 = 01.20.00
    Affected if Your BIOS version matches exactly one of these listed versions (version equals sign indicates exact version match)
  4. Confirm firmware is the HP UEFI BIOS
    Verify the BIOS vendor is HP by running `wmic bios get manufacturer` on Windows or checking the BIOS setup screen at startup
    Affected if The BIOS is not from HP (not affected)

You are affected only if your system is one of the eight listed HP models AND your current BIOS version matches exactly the version specified for that model in the affected products list.

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.

From vendor data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Apply HP-supplied BIOS/UEFI firmware updates to affected systems. Verify the current BIOS version on each system and cross-reference with HP's affected product list before updating.

Fix this in Elite Dragonfly 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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Scan for this in your stack

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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-2021-3808 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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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
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