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Alienware Area 51m R1 FirmwareOperating system · Dell

CVE-2023-28027

MEDIUM · 6.7 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-06-23
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 1.0.20 / 1.1.0 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
Dell BIOS contains an improper input validation vulnerability. A local authenticated malicious user with administrator privileges may potentially exploit this vulnerability in order to modify a UEFI variable.

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 an improper input validation vulnerability where a local authenticated malicious user with administrator privileges may potentially exploit this vulnerability to modify a UEFI variable. This is a firmware-level privilege manipulation issue affecting Dell systems with vulnerable BIOS versions.

MitigationApply the Dell BIOS security update (vendor patch) to remediate this vulnerability. Organizations should identify affected Dell systems, verify current BIOS versions, and deploy the updated firmware following Dell's recommended update procedures.

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:< 1.26.0
Alienware Area 51m R2 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:< 1.22.0
Alienware Aurora R11 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:< 1.0.20
Alienware Aurora R12 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:< 1.1.20
Alienware Aurora R13 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:< 1.12.0
Alienware Aurora R15 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:< 1.1.0
Alienware M15 R2 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:< 1.22.0
Alienware M15 R3 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:< 1.23.0

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 the Dell Alienware system model
    Run the command 'systeminfo' on Windows or check the system label/marketing name. On Linux, check 'dmidecode -s system-product-name' or look at /sys/class/dmi/id/product_name
    Affected if The model is one of: Alienware Area 51m R1, Area 51m R2, Aurora R11, Aurora R12, Aurora R13, Aurora R15, M15 R2, or M15 R3
  2. Retrieve the current BIOS firmware version
    On Windows, run 'wmic bios get smbiosbiosversion' or check BIOS setup (F2 on boot). On Linux, run 'dmidecode -s bios-version' or check /sys/class/dmi/id/bios_version
    Affected if Unable to retrieve a BIOS version, indicating firmware may be non-standard or compromised
  3. Compare installed version against affected thresholds
    For the identified model, compare the installed BIOS version to: Area 51m R1 < 1.26.0, Area 51m R2 < 1.22.0, Aurora R11 < 1.0.20, Aurora R12 < 1.1.20, Aurora R13 < 1.12.0, Aurora R15 < 1.1.0, M15 R2 < 1.22.0, M15 R3 < 1.23.0. Note that version comparison should treat 1.0.20 as 1.0.20, meaning versions below these thresholds are vulnerable.
    Affected if The installed BIOS version number is LOWER than the specified threshold for that model (e.g., 1.25.0 on Area 51m R1, or 1.0.15 on Aurora R11)

If the system is an affected Alienware model and the BIOS version is below the listed threshold, the environment is vulnerable to CVE-2023-28027.

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 1.0.20 / 1.1.0 / 1.1.20 or later
Fixed in 1.0.201.1.01.1.20
Interim mitigation

Apply the Dell BIOS security update (vendor patch) to remediate this vulnerability. Organizations should identify affected Dell systems, verify current BIOS versions, and deploy the updated firmware following Dell's recommended update procedures.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

Alienware Area 51m R1: >=1.26.0 | R2: >=1.22.0 | Aurora R11: >=1.0.20 | R12: >=1.1.20 | R13: >=1.12.0 | R15: >=1.1.0 | M15 R2: >=1.22.0 | M15 R3: >=1.23.0

  1. Identify your specific Alienware model and current BIOS/firmware version
  2. Navigate to Dell's support website (www.dell.com) and locate the drivers and downloads section for your model
  3. Download the latest BIOS firmware update matching your model (Area 51m R1: 1.26.0+, R2: 1.22.0+, Aurora R11: 1.0.20+, R12: 1.1.20+, R13: 1.12.0+, R15: 1.1.0+, M15 R2: 1.22.0+, M15 R3: 1.23.0+)
  4. Run the BIOS update executable with administrator privileges
  5. Follow the on-screen prompts and ensure the system remains powered throughout the update process
  6. Allow the system to restart and complete the BIOS update
Caveat BIOS firmware updates carry inherent risk of system instability if interrupted; ensure stable AC 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 51m R1 Firmware Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
14.0 hours of engineering $2,490
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Scan for this in your stack

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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-2023-28027 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