CVE-2022-34390
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 · uneditedDell BIOS contains a use of uninitialized variable 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 confidenceDell BIOS contains a use of uninitialized variable vulnerability that can be exploited by a local authenticated user through a System Management Interrupt (SMI) to achieve arbitrary code execution in SMRAM (System Management RAM). This grants the attacker code execution at the highest privilege level (SMM) on the affected system.
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< 2.0.6< 2.0.6CVSS 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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify your Dell system modelRun 'dmidecode -s system-product-name' on Linux or check System Information on Windows to confirm the exact model nameAffected if System is not a Dell Alienware Area 51 R4 or R5 - if so, not affected by this specific CVE
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Check the installed BIOS firmware versionRun 'dmidecode -s bios-version' on Linux, or use 'msinfo32' on Windows, or press F2 during boot to enter BIOS setup and view the versionAffected if Cannot determine firmware version - version must be verified to assess vulnerability
The system is affected only if it is a Dell Alienware Area 51 R4 or R5 with BIOS firmware version lower than 2.0.6.
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 · scoped2.0.6
Apply the Dell BIOS firmware update for this vulnerability. Restrict local access and physical security to reduce the attack surface for authenticated users.
BIOS Firmware version 2.0.6
- Identify your exact Alienware Area 51 model (R4 or R5) and current BIOS firmware version
- Visit Dell's support website at www.dell.com and navigate to the drivers and downloads section for your specific model
- Locate the BIOS firmware update labeled version 2.0.6 or later
- Download the BIOS update utility (.exe or .iso file) from Dell's official support page
- Run the BIOS update utility following Dell's on-screen instructions
- Allow the update process to complete - do not interrupt power or restart manually
- The system will automatically restart and apply the firmware update
- Verify the BIOS version has been updated to 2.0.6 or later after the system restarts
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2022-34390 — 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-2022-34390 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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