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Ideacentre C5 14imb05 FirmwareOperating system · Lenovo

CVE-2022-48181

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-06-05
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
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
An ErrorMessage driver stack-based buffer overflow vulnerability in BIOS of some ThinkPad models could allow an attacker with local access to elevate their privileges and execute arbitrary code.

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

A stack-based buffer overflow exists in the ErrorMessage driver within the BIOS firmware of certain ThinkPad models. An attacker with local physical access to an affected system can exploit this vulnerability to elevate privileges to ring 0 and execute arbitrary code with kernel-level permissions.

MitigationApply the vendor-provided BIOS/firmware update for affected ThinkPad models. Organizations should inventory their ThinkPad systems, identify vulnerable models, and deploy the corresponding BIOS updates through their standard patch management or deployment tooling, preferably while verifying system stability post-update.

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
Ideacentre C5 14imb05 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:< o4hkt3aa
Ideacentre 3 07ach7 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:< m4mkt12a
Ideacentre 3 07iab7 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:< m49kt21a
Ideacentre 3 07ada05 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:< o4fkt35a< m4mkt12a
Ideacentre 3 07imb05 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:< m2vkt1ea
Ideacentre 5 14iab7 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:< m42kt42a
Ideacentre 5 14acn6 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:< o5ekt24a
Ideacentre 5 14are05 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:< o4zkt2aa

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 Ideacentre model number
    Run 'systeminfo' (Windows) or check the physical chassis label/marketing materials to confirm the exact model (e.g., Ideacentre C5 14imb05, Ideacentre 3 07ach7, etc.)
    Affected if Your model matches one of the affected Ideacentre models listed in the CVE
  2. Determine your current BIOS/firmware version
    On Windows, run 'wmic bios get smbiosbiosversion' or check in BIOS/UEFI setup (press F1 or Del at boot). On Linux, run 'dmidecode -s bios-version'
    Affected if You cannot determine the firmware version or the version shown is below the threshold for your specific model
  3. Compare your firmware version against the affected thresholds
    Match your model to its corresponding version threshold: C5 14imb05 requires o4hkt3aa or newer; 3 07ach7 requires m4mkt12a or newer; 3 07iab7 requires m49kt21a or newer; 3 07ada05 requires o4fkt35a AND m4mkt12a or newer; 3 07imb05 requires m2vkt1ea or newer; 5 14iab7 requires m42kt42a or newer; 5 14acn6 requires o5ekt24a or newer; 5 14are05 requires o4zkt2aa or newer
    Affected if Your installed version is lower (alphanumerically earlier) than the required version for your model
  4. Verify physical access threat model applicability
    Assess whether unauthorized persons could gain physical access to the system (shared office, public space, unattended laptop, etc.)
    Affected if Physical access by untrusted individuals is possible or likely

You are affected if you own one of the listed Ideacentre models and your BIOS firmware version is below the version threshold specified for that model, especially if the system can be accessed physically by untrusted users.

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
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Apply the vendor-provided BIOS/firmware update for affected ThinkPad models. Organizations should inventory their ThinkPad systems, identify vulnerable models, and deploy the corresponding BIOS updates through their standard patch management or deployment tooling, preferably while verifying system stability post-update.

Recommended fix High confidence

BIOS/firmware version meeting or exceeding: o4hkt3aa, m4mkt12a, m49kt21a, o4fkt35a, m2vkt1ea, m42kt42a, o5ekt24a, or o4zkt2aa (depending on specific model)

  1. 1. Identify the exact Ideacentre model number (e.g., C5 14imb05, 3 07ach7, etc.) from the system label or BIOS information
  2. 2. Power on the system and access BIOS setup (typically press F1 or Delete during boot) to note the current firmware version
  3. 3. Visit support.lenovo.com and navigate to the Drivers & Software section for your specific Ideacentre model
  4. 4. Locate the BIOS update and verify the version number meets or exceeds the fixed version for your model: C5 14imb05 requires >= o4hkt3aa, 3 07ach7/07ada05 requires >= m4mkt12a, 3 07iab7 requires >= m49kt21a, 3 07ada05 (alternate) requires >= o4fkt35a, 3 07imb05 requires >= m2vkt1ea, 5 14iab7 requires >= m42kt42a, 5 14acn6 requires >= o5ekt24a, 5 14are05 requires >= o4zkt2aa
  5. 5. Download the BIOS update file from Lenovo support
  6. 6. Run the BIOS update utility as administrator, following the on-screen instructions
  7. 7. Allow the update to complete - do not interrupt power during the flashing process
  8. 8. After reboot, verify the new firmware version in BIOS setup
Caveat BIOS updates carry a risk of system damage 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 Ideacentre C5 14imb05 Firmware Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
22.0 hours of engineering $3,860
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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-2022-48181 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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