CVE-2022-32231
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 · uneditedImproper initialization in the BIOS firmware for some Intel(R) Processors may allow a privileged user to potentially enable escalation of privilege via local access.
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 confidenceThis is a BIOS firmware vulnerability in Intel processors stemming from improper initialization that allows a privileged local user to escalate their privileges. The attacker already needs local access and some baseline privileges to exploit this initialization flaw in the system firmware.
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 dataall versionsall versionsall versionsall versionsall versionsall versionsall versionsall versionsCVSS 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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify the processor modelRun 'dmidecode -s processor-version' on Linux or check System Information on Windows (msinfo32) to identify the exact Intel Xeon processor modelAffected if The processor model matches one of the following: Xeon Gold 6138p, Xeon Bronze 3104, Xeon Bronze 3106, Xeon Gold 5115, Xeon Gold 5118, Xeon Gold 5119t, Xeon Gold 5120, or Xeon Gold 5120t
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Retrieve the current BIOS/firmware versionRun 'dmidecode -s bios-version' on Linux, check the BIOS setup utility (press F2/F12 during boot), or access via IPMI/BMC web interface for serversAffected if The BIOS/firmware version is not at the version that includes the CVE-2022-322321 fix (contact Intel or OEM for the specific fixed version number)
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Check if firmware updates have been appliedReview system inventory, patch management logs, or contact the system administrator to verify if BIOS/firmware updates have been appliedAffected if No firmware update addressing CVE-2022-32231 has been applied to the affected processor system
A system is affected if it runs any of the listed Intel Xeon processor models and the BIOS/firmware has not been updated to the version that addresses the improper initialization vulnerability.
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 the appropriate BIOS/firmware update provided by Intel or the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) for the affected processor-based systems. Verify that the firmware update addresses the initialization vulnerability and conduct post-update testing to ensure system stability.
- Consultation6.0 h
- Implementation12.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA3.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2022-32231 — 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-2022-32231 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
- No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
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