Elite Dragonfly FirmwareOperating system · Hp

CVE-2021-3809

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 · moderate confidence

CVE-2021-3809 is a high-severity vulnerability in HP PC BIOS/UEFI firmware that could allow arbitrary code execution due to security flaws in the firmware. This is a firmware-level vulnerability affecting certain HP PC products that HP is addressing through firmware updates.

MitigationApply HP firmware updates as they become available through HP's support website or enterprise deployment tools (e.g., HP Support Assistant, HP Image Assistant, or SCCM BIOS update packages). Test thoroughly after applying firmware updates as UEFI updates carry risk of system boot failure if interrupted or improperly applied.

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 the exact HP PC model
    Check the system model name via 'systeminfo' on Windows or 'dmidecode -s system-product-name' on Linux. Verify it matches one of the affected models: Elite Dragonfly, Elite X2 1012 G2, Elite X2 1013 G3, Elite X2 G4, Elitebook 1040 G4, Elitebook 1050 G1, Elitebook 725 G4, or Elitebook 735 G5.
    Affected if The system model is one of the listed affected HP products.
  2. Retrieve the installed BIOS/UEFI firmware version
    Run 'wmic bios get name,version' on Windows or 'dmidecode -s bios-version' on Linux to obtain the firmware version. Alternatively, open MSINFO32 and check the BIOS Version field.
    Affected if The returned firmware version matches exactly one of the following: 01.12.00, 1.41, 01.19.00, 1.4, or 01.20.00.
  3. Confirm firmware version format and completeness
    Verify the version string matches the format shown (e.g., '01.12.00' or '1.41'). Some systems may display additional suffixes. Compare the primary version numbers exactly as listed in the affected versions.
    Affected if The installed version string exactly equals any version listed in the affected versions.
  4. Check for HP Support Assistant or HP tools
    Open HP Support Assistant if installed and navigate to the BIOS/firmware section to view the current version. This may also show if updates are available.
    Affected if The tool reports a firmware version matching any of the affected versions listed.

A system is affected if it is an HP model from the affected product list and has a BIOS/UEFI firmware version that exactly matches one of the specified versions.

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 firmware updates as they become available through HP's support website or enterprise deployment tools (e.g., HP Support Assistant, HP Image Assistant, or SCCM BIOS update packages). Test thoroughly after applying firmware updates as UEFI updates carry risk of system boot failure if interrupted or improperly applied.

Fix this in Elite Dragonfly Firmware Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
9.0 hours of engineering $1,600
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Scan for this in your stack

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dbcve dependency scanner

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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-2021-3809 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
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data