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Alienware Area 51m R1 FirmwareOperating system · Dell

CVE-2023-28041

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 · moderate confidence

Dell BIOS contains an improper input validation vulnerability allowing a local authenticated user with administrator privileges to modify a UEFI variable. This could enable tampering with UEFI settings such as secure boot configurations, boot order, or other platform variables, potentially bypassing security controls.

MitigationApply the Dell BIOS update for affected systems. Restrict administrator access and monitor for unauthorized UEFI variable modifications. Verify secure boot integrity after patching.

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 system model
    Run 'wmic computersystem get model' in Windows or 'sudo dmidecode -s system-product-name' in Linux to determine the exact Alienware model.
    Affected if The model matches one of the affected products: Alienware Area 51m R1, Area 51m R2, Aurora R11, Aurora R12, Aurora R13, Aurora R15, M15 R2, or M15 R3.
  2. Retrieve the installed BIOS version
    Run 'wmic bios get smbiosbiosversion' in Windows or 'sudo dmidecode -s bios-version' in Linux. Alternatively, access the BIOS/UEFI setup during boot (press F2).
    Affected if The installed BIOS version is lower than the threshold for your specific model: 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.
  3. Confirm administrator access exists on the system
    Check for local administrator accounts via 'net user' in Windows or review '/etc/passwd' and sudo group members in Linux. In BIOS, verify if administrator passwords are set.
    Affected if Local administrator accounts exist, as the vulnerability requires a local authenticated user with administrator privileges to modify UEFI variables.
  4. Verify UEFI variable access is possible
    Attempt to read or modify UEFI variables using 'bcdedit /enum firmware' in Windows (requires admin) or 'efivar -l' in Linux (requires root). Check if secure boot is enabled via 'bcdedit /enum firmware' or 'mokutil --sb-state'.
    Affected if UEFI variables are readable or writable from the operating system, indicating the attack surface exists.

You are affected if your system is an affected Alienware model running a BIOS version lower than the specified threshold and has local administrator accounts that could exploit the UEFI variable modification vulnerability.

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 update for affected systems. Restrict administrator access and monitor for unauthorized UEFI variable modifications. Verify secure boot integrity after patching.

Recommended fix High confidence

Upgrade to firmware version 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), or 1.23.0 (M15 R3) - depending on specific model

  1. Identify the exact Alienware model number (e.g., Alienware Area 51m R1)
  2. Determine the current BIOS/firmware version by accessing BIOS setup (F2 during boot) or using Dell SupportAssist
  3. Visit Dell's official support website (www.dell.com) and navigate to Drivers & Downloads
  4. Enter the service tag or search for the specific Alienware model
  5. Locate the BIOS/firmware update in the driver list
  6. Download the BIOS update file corresponding to the fixed version (e.g., 1.26.0 for Area 51m R1)
  7. Run the downloaded BIOS update executable with administrator privileges
  8. Follow the on-screen prompts - the system will likely reboot to complete the update
Caveat BIOS updates carry inherent risk of system brick 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 Alienware Area 51m R1 Firmware Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation8.0 h
  • Implementation16.0 h
  • Testing12.0 h
  • Review / QA8.0 h
44.0 hours of engineering $7,720
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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-2023-28041 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
  • 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