CVE-2022-23829
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 weakness in AMD SPI protection features may allow a malicious attacker with Ring0 (kernel mode) access to bypass the native System Management Mode (SMM) ROM protections.
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 confidenceAMD SPI flash protection features contain a weakness that allows a kernel-mode (Ring0) attacker to bypass native SMM ROM protections. This enables potential code execution in System Management Mode, a highly privileged CPU mode that operates below the OS. The vulnerability resides in how SPI write protections interact with AMD's firmware-specific security controls.
Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.
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
- Changed
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/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 AMD hardware platformCheck system information to confirm the processor is AMD-based (e.g., via systeminfo, lshw, or BIOS identification). This vulnerability only affects AMD processors with SPI flash protection features.Affected if The system does not have an AMD processor - this vulnerability is AMD-specific.
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Confirm SPI flash protection capabilityVerify that the system includes SPI flash memory with write protection capabilities. This is typically found in BIOS/UEFI settings under 'SPI Flash Protection', 'BIOS Write Protection', or similar firmware security options.Affected if The system lacks SPI flash protection features entirely.
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Check SPI write protection configuration statusInspect BIOS/UEFI settings to determine whether SPI write protection is currently enabled or disabled. The vulnerability exploits the interaction between SPI write protections and AMD's firmware security controls.Affected if SPI write protection is disabled or not properly configured, allowing the bypass to occur.
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Verify SMM protection statusExamine whether System Management Mode (SMM) protections are enabled in firmware settings. This may appear as 'SMM Lock', 'SMM Protection', or 'AMD Platform Security Processor' settings.Affected if SMM protections are not properly enabled, allowing the bypass to succeed.
The system is affected if it uses AMD hardware with SPI flash protection that can be bypassed by a kernel-mode attacker to circumvent SMM ROM protections.
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 AMD-provided firmware/microcode updates that address the SPI protection bypass. Organizations should also verify that SMM protections are properly enabled in BIOS/UEFI settings and consider additional runtime firmware integrity monitoring.
- Consultation8.0 h
- Implementation16.0 h
- Testing12.0 h
- Review / QA8.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $12,352.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2022-23829 — 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-2022-23829 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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- Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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