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Alienware Area 51 R5 FirmwareOperating system · Dell

CVE-2022-34391

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2022-10-12
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 2.0.6 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 Client BIOS Versions prior to the remediated version contain 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 Client BIOS versions prior to the remediated version contain an improper input validation vulnerability that allows a local authenticated malicious user to exploit via System Management Interrupt (SMI) to achieve arbitrary code execution in SMRAM (System Management RAM).

MitigationUpdate Dell Client BIOS to the vendor-remediated version to address the improper input validation vulnerability.

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 51 R5 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:< 2.0.6
Alienware Area 51 R4 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:< 2.0.6

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 the system model
    Run 'systeminfo' on Windows or 'dmidecode -s system-product-name' on Linux to determine if the system is a Dell Alienware Area 51 R4 or R5
    Affected if The system model is Dell Alienware Area 51 R4 or R5 and the BIOS version is below 2.0.6
  2. Retrieve the current BIOS firmware version
    Run 'wmic bios get smbiosbiosversion' on Windows, 'dmidecode -s bios-version' on Linux, or check in the BIOS setup utility under the Main or Information tab
    Affected if The installed BIOS version number is lower than 2.0.6
  3. Confirm the SMI interface is accessible
    Verify the System Management Interrupt is enabled by checking BIOS settings for 'SMI' or 'Management Engine' settings, or inspect system logs for SMI-related entries using 'wevtutil qe System /c:5' on Windows
    Affected if SMI is enabled and the BIOS version is below the remediated version 2.0.6
  4. Check for local authenticated user access
    Review system access controls and user account status using 'query user' on Windows or 'who' on Linux to determine if local users exist with access to trigger the SMI
    Affected if A local authenticated user exists and the BIOS version is below 2.0.6

A user is affected if they are running a Dell Alienware Area 51 R4 or R5 system with BIOS firmware version lower than 2.0.6 and have local authenticated access to trigger the SMI vulnerability.

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 2.0.6 or later
Fixed in 2.0.6
Interim mitigation

Update Dell Client BIOS to the vendor-remediated version to address the improper input validation vulnerability.

Recommended fix High confidence

BIOS version 2.0.6

  1. Navigate to dell.com/support and enter the specific model (Alienware Area 51 R4 or Alienware Area 51 R5) to access the product support page
  2. Locate the BIOS category under Drivers & Downloads
  3. Download the BIOS update version 2.0.6 for your specific model
  4. Run the downloaded BIOS update executable or use Dell Update/SupportAssist tool
  5. Follow the on-screen instructions and ensure the system is connected to power
  6. Restart the system to complete the BIOS update process
Caveat BIOS updates carry inherent risk if interrupted; ensure stable power and do not interrupt the update process

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

Fix this in Alienware Area 51 R5 Firmware Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
8.0 hours of engineering $1,440
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,304.

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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-2022-34391 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