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Thinkpad E14 FirmwareOperating system · Lenovo

CVE-2022-48189

MEDIUM · 6.7 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-10-30
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 1.16 / 1.18 or later.
See remediation →
69/100
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
An SMM driver input validation vulnerability in the BIOS of some ThinkPad models could allow an attacker with local access and elevated privileges to 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 vulnerability in the System Management Mode (SMM) driver within ThinkPad BIOS firmware contains an input validation flaw that could allow a local attacker with existing elevated privileges to execute arbitrary code in SMM, which operates at the highest privilege level below the hardware.

MitigationApply the vendor BIOS/firmware update from Lenovo for affected ThinkPad models to patch the SMM driver 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
Thinkpad E14 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:< 1.23
Thinkpad E14 Gen 2 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:< 1.55
Thinkpad E14 Gen 4 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:< 1.18< 1.16
Thinkpad E15 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:< 1.23
Thinkpad E15 Gen 2 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:< 1.55
Thinkpad E15 Gen 4 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:< 1.18< 1.16
Thinkpad E490 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:< 1.34
Thinkpad E490s FirmwareOperating system
Affected:< 1.34

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
High
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/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 ThinkPad model
    Check the laptop model number printed on the chassis or visible in system information (Windows: msinfo32, Linux: dmidecode -s system-product-name)
    Affected if The model is one of: ThinkPad E14, E14 Gen 2, E14 Gen 4, E15, E15 Gen 2, E15 Gen 4, E490, or E490s
  2. Check BIOS/firmware version on ThinkPad E14, E15, E490, E490s
    Access BIOS setup (press Enter during startup) or use Lenovo Vantage / Lenovo System Update tool to view the BIOS version
    Affected if The installed BIOS version is below 1.23 for E14, E15, below 1.34 for E490/E490s, or below 1.55 for Gen 2 models
  3. Check BIOS/firmware version on ThinkPad E14 Gen 4, E15 Gen 4
    Access BIOS setup or use Lenovo tools to view the BIOS version, check both version numbers if two are displayed
    Affected if The installed BIOS version is below 1.18 or below 1.16 (depending on which version scheme applies to your specific E14 Gen 4 or E15 Gen 4)
  4. Confirm SMM driver is present
    This is inherent to all ThinkPad BIOS implementations - the vulnerability exists in the SMM driver component of the firmware itself
    Affected if Running any unpatched BIOS version from the affected ranges above means the SMM driver contains the input validation flaw

A ThinkPad E14/E15 (any generation), E490, or E490s system is affected if its BIOS firmware version is below the thresholds specified for that model (1.23, 1.34, 1.55, 1.18, or 1.16 depending on exact 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 1.16 / 1.18 / 1.23 or later
Fixed in 1.161.181.23
Interim mitigation

Apply the vendor BIOS/firmware update from Lenovo for affected ThinkPad models to patch the SMM driver input validation vulnerability.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

Firmware version >= 1.23 (E14/E15), >= 1.55 (E14 Gen 2/E15 Gen 2), >= 1.18 or >= 1.16 (E14 Gen 4/E15 Gen 4), >= 1.34 (E490/E490s)

  1. 1. Identify your exact ThinkPad model number and generation (e.g., E14 Gen 2)
  2. 2. Visit the Lenovo support website at support.lenovo.com
  3. 3. Enter your product model number in the search bar
  4. 4. Navigate to the 'Drivers & Software' section
  5. 5. Locate the BIOS/UEFI firmware update for your specific model
  6. 6. Verify the firmware version listed in the update details matches or exceeds the fixed version for your model (E14: 1.23, E14 Gen 2: 1.55, E14 Gen 4: 1.18 or 1.16, E15: 1.23, E15 Gen 2: 1.55, E15 Gen 4: 1.18 or 1.16, E490: 1.34, E490s: 1.34)
  7. 7. Download the BIOS update utility from Lenovo support
  8. 8. Run the BIOS update utility with administrator privileges
Caveat BIOS firmware updates carry inherent risk; power interruption during update can render the device unusable; ensure laptop is connected to AC power and battery is sufficiently charged

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

Fix this in Thinkpad E14 Firmware Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
12.0 hours of engineering $2,120
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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-2022-48189 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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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
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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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