CVE-2023-28036
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 · uneditedDell 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 confidenceDell BIOS contains an improper input validation vulnerability that allows a local authenticated user with administrator privileges to modify UEFI variables. The vulnerability stems from insufficient validation of input in the BIOS, potentially allowing manipulation of UEFI settings that could lead to code execution at boot time or security control bypass.
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< 1.26.0< 1.22.0< 1.0.20< 1.1.20< 1.12.0< 1.1.0< 1.22.0< 1.23.0CVSS 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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify your system modelRun 'systeminfo' or check the system BIOS for the exact model name (e.g., Alienware Area 51m R1, Alienware Aurora R11, Alienware M15 R2)Affected if The system is not one of the affected Alienware models listed in the CVE (Area 51m R1/R2, Aurora R11/R12/R13/R15, M15 R2/R3)
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Determine the installed BIOS versionRun 'wmic bios get smbiosbiosversion' from command prompt, or check BIOS setup under 'Main' or 'Information' tab, or use 'DellCommandUpdate' utility if availableAffected if The BIOS version returned is lower than the fixed version for your specific model (see version thresholds: 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)
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Verify the system is locally accessible with administrator privilegesConfirm you have local administrator access to the system (the vulnerability requires a local authenticated user with admin rights to exploit)Affected if The user has local administrator privileges and the BIOS version is below the fixed version for your model
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Check for recent BIOS updatesRun Dell SupportAssist or Dell Command Update to check for available BIOS updates, or visit dell.com/support and enter your Service Tag to see if a newer BIOS version is availableAffected if A BIOS update is available that exceeds the fixed version threshold for your model
Your system is affected if it is an Alienware model listed in the CVE and its current BIOS version is below the specified threshold for that model.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
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 · scoped1.0.201.1.01.1.20
Apply the Dell BIOS firmware update for affected systems. Organizations should inventory all vulnerable Dell systems, test the update in a controlled environment, and deploy using Dell's recommended BIOS update mechanisms (e.g., Dell Command Update, BIOS update packages).
BIOS firmware >=1.26.0 (Area 51m R1), >=1.22.0 (Area 51m R2), >=1.0.20 (Aurora R11), >=1.1.20 (Aurora R12), >=1.12.0 (Aurora R13), >=1.1.0 (Aurora R15), >=1.22.0 (M15 R2), >=1.23.0 (M15 R3)
- 1. Identify the exact Alienware model from the affected list (Area 51m R1/R2, Aurora R11/R12/R13/R15, M15 R2/R3)
- 2. Visit Dell's support website (www.dell.com) and navigate to the drivers and downloads section for your specific model
- 3. Locate the BIOS/UEFI firmware update corresponding to your model: Area 51m R1 requires >=1.26.0, Area 51m R2 requires >=1.22.0, Aurora R11 requires >=1.0.20, Aurora R12 requires >=1.1.20, Aurora R13 requires >=1.12.0, Aurora R15 requires >=1.1.0, M15 R2 requires >=1.22.0, M15 R3 requires >=1.23.0
- 4. Download the BIOS firmware update file from Dell's official support site
- 5. Run the BIOS update executable or flash the firmware following Dell's standard BIOS update procedure
- 6. Restart the system as prompted to complete the firmware update
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation6.0 h
- Implementation12.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA3.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-28036 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2023-28036 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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