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Ideapad 3 14ada05 FirmwareOperating system · Lenovo

CVE-2021-3972

MEDIUM · 6.7 CVSS v3.1 Published 2022-04-22
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
69/100
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
A potential vulnerability by a driver used during manufacturing process on some consumer Lenovo Notebook devices' BIOS that was mistakenly not deactivated may allow an attacker with elevated privileges to modify secure boot setting by modifying an NVRAM variable.

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

A manufacturing debug driver was mistakenly left activated in the BIOS of certain consumer Lenovo Notebook devices. This driver allows an attacker with elevated privileges to modify NVRAM variables, specifically altering secure boot settings. The vulnerability requires local access with administrative rights and targets the UEFI firmware layer.

MitigationApply the Lenovo BIOS/firmware update that removes the manufacturing driver. Verify secure boot configuration remains enabled after the update. Organizations should inventory their Lenovo devices to identify affected models.

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
Ideapad 3 14ada05 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:< e8cn33ww
Ideapad 3 14ada6 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:< hbcn21ww
Ideapad 3 14alc6 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:< glcn43ww
Ideapad 3 14are05 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:< dzcn42ww
Ideapad 3 15ada6 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:< hbcn21ww
Ideapad 3 15alc6 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:< glcn43ww
Ideapad 3 15are05 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:< dzcn42ww
Ideapad 3 15igl05 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:< dvcn23ww

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
High
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/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 Lenovo Ideapad 3 model number
    Run 'wmic csproduct get name' or check the system label/sticker to confirm the full model variant (e.g., 14ada05, 14ada6, 14alc6, 14are05, 15ada6, 15alc6, 15are05, or 15igl05)
    Affected if The model is NOT one of these eight Ideapad 3 variants - the device is not affected
  2. Check the current BIOS/firmware version
    Run 'wmic bios get smbiosbiosversion' or check the BIOS setup utility under the 'Information' or 'About' section to find the installed firmware version string
    Affected if The firmware version is below the threshold for your specific model: e8cn33ww (14ada05), hbcn21ww (14ada6/15ada6), glcn43ww (14alc6/15alc6), dzcn42ww (14are05/15are05), or dvcn23ww (15igl05)
  3. Verify secure boot configuration status
    Open Windows PowerShell and run 'Confirm-SecureBootUEFI' or access BIOS setup and navigate to the Secure Boot option under Security settings
    Affected if Secure boot can be disabled or modified - combined with firmware version below threshold, the debug driver could allow this manipulation
  4. Confirm administrative access capability
    Review local system administration rights and check if untrusted code could execute with elevated privileges
    Affected if An attacker with local admin rights combined with vulnerable firmware version below threshold could exploit this flaw

A user is affected if their Ideapad 3 matches one of the eight listed model numbers AND the installed BIOS/firmware version is below the specified threshold for that model.

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
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Apply the Lenovo BIOS/firmware update that removes the manufacturing driver. Verify secure boot configuration remains enabled after the update. Organizations should inventory their Lenovo devices to identify affected models.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

Firmware update to version >= e8cn33ww (14ada05), >= hbcn21ww (14ada6/15ada6), >= glcn43ww (14alc6/15alc6), >= dzcn42ww (14are05/15are05), >= dvcn23ww (15igl05) - check Lenovo support for exact fixed version per model

  1. Identify the exact Ideapad 3 model number (e.g., 14ada05, 15alc6) from the device label or system information
  2. Navigate to Lenovo support website (support.lenovo.com) and enter the model number to find available drivers
  3. Locate the BIOS/firmware update section and download the latest version that addresses CVE-2021-3972
  4. Review the firmware update release notes to confirm the fix version for your specific model (e.g., e8cn33ww or higher for 14ada05)
  5. Follow Lenovo's instructions to update the BIOS - typically requires running the update utility and allowing the device to restart
  6. After update, verify the BIOS version has been successfully updated to the fixed release
Caveat Firmware updates carry risk of bricking device if interrupted; ensure laptop is connected to power and do not interrupt the update process

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

Fix this in Ideapad 3 14ada05 Firmware Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
22.0 hours of engineering $3,860
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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-2021-3972 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