dbcve.org
Dgx A100 FirmwareOperating system · Nvidia

CVE-2023-25521

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-07-04
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 1.21 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
NVIDIA DGX A100/A800 contains a vulnerability in SBIOS where an attacker may cause execution with unnecessary privileges by leveraging a weakness whereby proper input parameter validation is not performed. A successful exploit of this vulnerability may lead to denial of service, information disclosure, and data tampering.

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 · moderate confidence

NVIDIA DGX A100/A800 systems contain a vulnerability in the System BIOS (SBIOS) where improper input parameter validation allows a local attacker to execute code with elevated privileges. This represents a local privilege escalation vulnerability in the firmware layer that could enable denial of service, information disclosure, or data tampering.

MitigationApply the NVIDIA-supplied SBIOS firmware update for DGX A100/A800. Given the firmware-level nature of this vulnerability, organizations should schedule maintenance windows, ensure backup configurations, and verify 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
Dgx A100 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:< 1.21
Dgx A800 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:< 1.21

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
    Determine if the system is an NVIDIA DGX A100 or DGX A800 server. This can be done via system inventory, BMC web interface, or by running system information commands.
    Affected if The system is not a DGX A100 or DGX A800 model.
  2. Locate the SBIOS firmware version
    Access the SBIOS (System BIOS) version information through the BMC (Baseboard Management Controller) web interface, IPMI commands, or NVIDIA system management tools. The version is typically displayed in the firmware or BIOS information section.
    Affected if Unable to retrieve the SBIOS firmware version from the system.
  3. Compare the installed version against the affected range
    Note the installed SBIOS firmware version number. Compare it to the affected versions: DGX A100 Firmware < 1.21 and DGX A800 Firmware < 1.21.
    Affected if The installed SBIOS firmware version is below 1.21.
  4. Confirm the vulnerability is exploitable
    Verify that the system is accessible locally. This is a local privilege escalation vulnerability requiring local access to the system.
    Affected if The system is physically or remotely accessible to an unprivileged local user.

The system is affected if it is an NVIDIA DGX A100 or DGX A800 with SBIOS firmware version below 1.21 and the attacker has local access to the system.

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 1.21 or later
Fixed in 1.21
Interim mitigation

Apply the NVIDIA-supplied SBIOS firmware update for DGX A100/A800. Given the firmware-level nature of this vulnerability, organizations should schedule maintenance windows, ensure backup configurations, and verify system stability post-update.

Recommended fix High confidence

DGX A100/A800 SBIOS firmware >= 1.21

  1. Identify the exact current firmware version of the DGX A100 or DGX A800 system by accessing the BIOS/UEFI setup or using NVIDIA system management tools
  2. Download the SBIOS firmware version 1.21 or later from the NVIDIA enterprise support portal (enterprise.nvidia.com) or through your NVIDIA support channel
  3. Follow NVIDIA's standard firmware update procedure for DGX systems, which typically involves: a) Running the firmware update utility as an administrator, b) Ensuring stable power during the update process, c) Rebooting the system after the update completes
  4. After upgrade, verify the SBIOS version has been updated to 1.21 or later using system management tools or BIOS information
Caveat Firmware updates may require system downtime; ensure proper backup and controlled maintenance window; verify compatibility with other system components before applying

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

Fix this in Dgx A100 Firmware Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation6.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
24.0 hours of engineering $4,260
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $6,816.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-25521 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

Get it on GitHub Scan in the browser

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-2023-25521 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

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