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Alienware Area 51m R1 FirmwareOperating system · Dell

CVE-2022-32489

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2022-10-12
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 1.0.16 / 1.0.20 or later.
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
Dell BIOS contains an improper input validation vulnerability. A local authenticated malicious user may potentially exploit this vulnerability by using an SMI to gain arbitrary code execution in SMRAM.

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 confidence

Dell BIOS contains an improper input validation vulnerability in the System Management Interrupt (SMI) handling. A local authenticated attacker can exploit this by sending specially crafted SMI requests to achieve arbitrary code execution in SMRAM (System Management RAM), which operates at the highest privilege level outside of normal OS control.

MitigationApply the Dell BIOS update provided by Dell to address the input validation vulnerability in SMI handling. Verify the patch is applied and confirm the system is no longer vulnerable to SMRAM code execution attacks.

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
Alienware Area 51m R1 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:< 1.21.0
Alienware Area 51m R2 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:< 1.18.0
Alienware Aurora R11 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:< 1.0.16
Alienware Aurora R12 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:< 1.1.16
Alienware Aurora R13 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:< 1.5.0
Alienware Aurora R10 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:< 2.3.1
Alienware Aurora R8 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:< 1.0.23
Alienware Aurora R9 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:< 1.0.20

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 your Dell Alienware system model
    Run 'dmidecode -s system-product-name' or check the system label/sticker on the chassis to confirm the exact model (e.g., Alienware Area 51m R1, Alienware Aurora R11, etc.)
    Affected if Your system is one of the listed Alienware models: Area 51m R1/R2, Aurora R8/R9/R10/R11/R12/R13
  2. Determine the installed BIOS/firmware version
    Run 'dmidecode -s bios-version' or boot into BIOS/UEFI setup and check the BIOS version displayed on the main screen
    Affected if You cannot determine the firmware version or the version is lower than the threshold for your model
  3. Compare your firmware version against affected ranges
    For your identified model, compare the installed version number to the affected threshold: Area 51m R1 < 1.21.0, Area 51m R2 < 1.18.0, Aurora R11 < 1.0.16, Aurora R12 < 1.1.16, Aurora R13 < 1.5.0, Aurora R10 < 2.3.1, Aurora R8 < 1.0.23, Aurora R9 < 1.0.20
    Affected if Your installed firmware version is lower than the version threshold listed for your specific model (meaning it falls within the affected range)

You are affected if you own a Dell Alienware system from the listed models and your current BIOS/firmware version is below the threshold specified 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
Upgrade available Upgrade to 1.0.16 / 1.0.20 / 1.0.23 or later
Fixed in 1.0.161.0.201.0.23
Interim mitigation

Apply the Dell BIOS update provided by Dell to address the input validation vulnerability in SMI handling. Verify the patch is applied and confirm the system is no longer vulnerable to SMRAM code execution attacks.

Recommended fix High confidence

For Area 51m R1: upgrade to firmware >= 1.21.0 | For Area 51m R2: upgrade to firmware >= 1.18.0 | For Aurora R11: upgrade to firmware >= 1.0.16 | For Aurora R12: upgrade to firmware >= 1.1.16 | For Aurora R13: upgrade to firmware >= 1.5.0 | For Aurora R10: upgrade to firmware >= 2.3.1 | For Aurora R

  1. Identify the exact Dell/Alienware system model by checking the system BIOS or service tag
  2. Download the latest BIOS firmware from Dell's support website (support.dell.com) using the system service tag
  3. Follow Dell's recommended BIOS update process, which typically involves running the BIOS update utility from Windows or creating a bootable USB update media
  4. Restart the system and allow the BIOS update to complete - do not interrupt this process
  5. Verify the BIOS version has been updated to the fixed release version for your model
Caveat BIOS updates carry a risk if interrupted; ensure stable power during update process

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

Fix this in Alienware Area 51m R1 Firmware Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
10.0 hours of engineering $1,820
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,912.

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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-2022-32489 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