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Alienware Area 51m R1 FirmwareOperating system · Dell

CVE-2022-34398

HIGH · 7.0 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-02-01
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 1.0.17 / 1.0.22 or later.
See remediation →
72/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
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 a Time-of-check Time-of-use vulnerability. A local authenticated malicious user could\u00a0potentially exploit this vulnerability by using a specifically timed DMA transaction during an SMI to gain arbitrary code execution on the system.

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 a Time-of-check Time-of-use (TOCTOU) vulnerability where a local authenticated attacker can exploit a race condition during a System Management Interrupt (SMI) by using specifically timed DMA (Direct Memory Access) transactions to achieve arbitrary code execution with elevated privileges.

MitigationApply Dell BIOS/firmware updates immediately when available from Dell's support website; this is a firmware-level vulnerability requiring a BIOS update rather than configuration changes.

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:< 1.22.2
Alienware Area 51m R2 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:< 1.19.0
Alienware Aurora R10 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:< 2.3.2
Alienware Aurora R11 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:< 1.0.17
Alienware Aurora R12 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:< 1.1.17
Alienware Aurora R13 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:< 1.7.0
Alienware Aurora R8 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:< 1.0.26
Alienware Aurora R9 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:< 1.0.22

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
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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify your exact Alienware model
    Check the system model number on the physical chassis or in system information (msinfo32 or dmidecode). Confirm it matches one of these: Alienware Area 51m R1, Area 51m R2, Aurora R8, R9, R10, R11, R12, or R13.
    Affected if The system model is NOT one of the listed Alienware models (you are not in scope).
  2. Determine the installed BIOS firmware version
    Run 'msinfo32' and look for BIOS Version/Date, or run 'dmidecode -s bios-version' on Linux. Record the exact version string (for example, 1.0.15 or 1.22.1).
    Affected if You cannot retrieve a BIOS version (firmware may be corrupted or inaccessible).
  3. Compare version against the vulnerable threshold for your model
    Match your model to its version threshold and compare: Area 51m R1 < 1.22.2, Area 51m R2 < 1.19.0, Aurora R10 < 2.3.2, Aurora R11 < 1.0.17, Aurora R12 < 1.1.17, Aurora R13 < 1.7.0, Aurora R8 < 1.0.26, Aurora R9 < 1.0.22. If your version is lower than the threshold, you are vulnerable.
    Affected if Your installed BIOS version is below the threshold listed for your specific model.
  4. Confirm attack prerequisites exist in your environment
    This vulnerability requires a local authenticated user with the ability to perform DMA transactions (e.g., through Thunderbolt, FireWire, or PCIe devices with DMA capability) and precise timing control. Verify if standard user accounts exist on the system and whether DMA-capable ports are accessible.
    Affected if A local authenticated attacker with DMA access exists; however, version check above is the primary indicator of exposure.

You are affected if your system is an Alienware Area 51m R1/R2 or Aurora R8/R9/R10/R11/R12/R13 and the installed BIOS firmware version is below the threshold listed 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 1.0.17 / 1.0.22 / 1.0.26 or later
Fixed in 1.0.171.0.221.0.26
Interim mitigation

Apply Dell BIOS/firmware updates immediately when available from Dell's support website; this is a firmware-level vulnerability requiring a BIOS update rather than configuration changes.

Recommended fix High confidence

Firmware upgrade to: Area 51m R1 -> 1.22.2, Area 51m R2 -> 1.19.0, Aurora R10 -> 2.3.2, Aurora R11 -> 1.0.17, Aurora R12 -> 1.1.17, Aurora R13 -> 1.7.0, Aurora R8 -> 1.0.26, Aurora R9 -> 1.0.22

  1. 1. Identify the exact Alienware or Dell Aurora model number and current firmware version from the system BIOS or Dell SupportAssist.
  2. 2. Navigate to Dell's official support website (www.dell.com) and enter the model Service Tag or product name to access the drivers and downloads page.
  3. 3. Locate the BIOS/firmware update section and download the appropriate update file for the specific model: Area 51m R1 to version 1.22.2, Area 51m R2 to version 1.19.0, Aurora R10 to version 2.3.2, Aurora R11 to version 1.0.17, Aurora R12 to version 1.1.17, Aurora R13 to version 1.7.0, Aurora R8 to version 1.0.26, Aurora R9 to version 1.0.22.
  4. 4. Run the Dell BIOS update utility (typically a .exe or .hdr file) or use Dell Update (SupportAssist) to apply the firmware update.
  5. 5. Follow the on-screen prompts to complete the firmware flash - the system will typically reboot during this process.
  6. 6. After the update completes, verify the BIOS version has been successfully updated to the target version in the BIOS setup.
Caveat Firmware updates carry inherent risk of system instability if interrupted; ensure stable power and do not interrupt the flashing 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
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation3.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
11.0 hours of engineering $1,900
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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-2022-34398 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

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What belongs here
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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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