CVE-2022-32469
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 · uneditedAn issue was discovered in Insyde InsydeH2O with kernel 5.0 through 5.5. DMA attacks on the PnpSmm shared buffer used by SMM and non-SMM code could cause TOCTOU race-condition issues that could lead to corruption of SMRAM and escalation of privileges. This attack can be mitigated using IOMMU protection for the ACPI runtime memory used for the command buffer. This attack can be mitigated by copying the firmware block services data to SMRAM before checking it.
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 · high confidenceInsydeH2O kernel 5.0-5.5 contains a TOCTOU race condition vulnerability in the PnpSmm shared buffer used for communication between SMM and non-SMM code. DMA attacks can exploit this race condition to corrupt SMRAM (System Management RAM) and achieve privilege escalation by injecting malicious code into SMM context.
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>= 5.0, < 5.2.05.27.27>= 5.3, < 5.3.05.36.27>= 5.4, < 5.4.05.44.27>= 5.5, < 5.5.05.52.27CVSS 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
- High
- Privileges
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Check InsydeH2O firmware versionRun 'dmidecode -s bios-version' on Linux or check UEFI firmware info via 'fwupdmgr get-version' if fwupd is available. Alternatively, extract the firmware ROM and look for the InsydeH2O version string in the descriptor region.Affected if The reported version falls within any of these ranges: >= 5.0 and < 5.2.05.27.27; >= 5.3 and < 5.3.05.36.27; >= 5.4 and < 5.4.05.44.27; or >= 5.5 and < 5.5.05.52.27
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Verify the system uses InsydeH2O UEFI firmwareCheck the system firmware vendor: run 'dmidecode -s bios-vendor' or 'dmidecode -s baseboard-manufacturer' and look for 'Insyde' or 'InsydeH2O' in the output.Affected if The firmware is from Insyde and the version matches the affected ranges listed in step 1.
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Confirm PnpSmm driver is present in firmwareExtract the UEFI firmware image (using tools like uefi-firmware-parser or chipsec) and search for the PnpSmm driver file or module within the firmware volume.Affected if The PnpSmm driver exists in the firmware, which is required for the TOCTOU race condition to be exploitable.
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Check if DMA protection (IOMMU) is enabledOn Linux, check /sys/class/iommu/ or run 'dmesg | grep -i iommu' to see if IOMMU is active. On Windows, check 'bcdedit /enum all' for DMA memory protection settings.Affected if IOMMU is disabled or not configured for ACPI runtime memory protection, leaving the PnpSmm shared buffer vulnerable to DMA attacks.
The system is affected if it runs InsydeH2O firmware version 5.0 through the affected version thresholds AND uses the PnpSmm driver without IOMMU DMA protection.
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.
dbcve · scoped5.2.05.27.275.3.05.36.275.4.05.44.27
Implement IOMMU protection for ACPI runtime memory used as the command buffer, or copy firmware block services data to SMRAM before performing validation checks to prevent the race window.
InsydeH2O version 5.2.05.27.27 or later for 5.0-5.2.x branch; 5.3.05.36.27 or later for 5.3.x branch; 5.4.05.44.27 or later for 5.4.x branch; 5.5.05.52.27 or later for 5.5.x branch
- 1. Identify the exact InsydeH2O version currently installed on the system by checking the BIOS/UEFI setup or using system information tools
- 2. Navigate to the official Insyde website (www.insyde.com) and locate the firmware download section for your specific hardware model
- 3. Download the firmware update that corresponds to your version branch: for 5.0-5.2.x series use version 5.2.05.27.27 or later; for 5.3.x use version 5.3.05.36.27 or later; for 5.4.x use version 5.4.05.44.27 or later; for 5.5.x use version 5.5.05.52.27 or later
- 4. Verify the downloaded firmware image integrity using checksums provided on the vendor site
- 5. Apply the firmware update using the vendor's recommended process (typically through BIOS flash utility or Windows firmware update tool)
- 6. As an additional defense-in-depth measure, ensure IOMMU (Intel VT-d or AMD-Vi) is enabled in BIOS/UEFI settings to help mitigate DMA attacks on the ACPI runtime memory
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation8.0 h
- Implementation24.0 h
- Testing16.0 h
- Review / QA8.0 h
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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 sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2022-32469 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
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