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Alienware Area 51m R1 FirmwareOperating system · Dell

CVE-2023-28042

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 that allows a local authenticated user with administrator privileges to modify UEFI variables. This could enable persistent code execution at boot time or bypass security mechanisms like Secure Boot.

MitigationApply the Dell BIOS firmware update provided by Dell for affected systems. This is a critical firmware-level fix that requires careful deployment across the enterprise.

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 exact Alienware system model
    Run 'dmidecode -s system-product-name' on Linux or 'wmic csproduct get name' on Windows, or physically check the system label or BIOS startup screen
    Affected if The model is one of: Area 51m R1, Area 51m R2, Aurora R11, Aurora R12, Aurora R13, Aurora R15, M15 R2, or M15 R3
  2. Check the installed BIOS firmware version
    Run 'dmidecode -s bios-version' on Linux or 'wmic bios get smbiosbiosversion' on Windows, or view the version in BIOS setup under 'BIOS Information'
    Affected if The version cannot be determined or is lower than the fixed version for your model
  3. Compare the firmware version against affected ranges
    For your identified model, verify the installed version against these 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
    Affected if The installed version is lower than the listed threshold for your specific model
  4. Confirm UEFI variable write access exists
    On Linux, verify if the system allows writing to UEFI variables via 'efivar -l' or by checking /sys/firmware/efi/efivars permissions; this requires administrator privileges
    Affected if A local authenticated user with administrator privileges can write to UEFI variables, which is the condition this CVE exploits

You are affected if you own an Alienware system from the listed models and your current BIOS firmware version is below the specified threshold for that 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 1.0.20 / 1.1.0 / 1.1.20 or later
Fixed in 1.0.201.1.01.1.20
Interim mitigation

Apply the Dell BIOS firmware update provided by Dell for affected systems. This is a critical firmware-level fix that requires careful deployment across the enterprise.

Recommended fix High confidence

Firmware upgrades to versions: Area 51m R1 to 1.26.0, Area 51m R2 to 1.22.0, Aurora R11 to 1.0.20, Aurora R12 to 1.1.20, Aurora R13 to 1.12.0, Aurora R15 to 1.1.0, M15 R2 to 1.22.0, M15 R3 to 1.23.0

  1. Identify the exact Alienware model from the affected list (Area 51m R1/R2, Aurora R11/R12/R13/R15, or M15 R2/R3)
  2. Navigate to Dell's support website (www.dell.com) and enter the service tag or product model to find drivers and downloads
  3. Locate the BIOS/firmware update for the specific model
  4. Download the BIOS update file corresponding to the fixed version (1.26.0 for Area 51m R1, 1.22.0 for Area 51m R2, 1.0.20 for Aurora R11, 1.1.20 for Aurora R12, 1.12.0 for Aurora R13, 1.1.0 for Aurora R15, 1.22.0 for M15 R2, 1.23.0 for M15 R3)
  5. Ensure the system is connected to AC power and close all running applications
  6. Run the downloaded BIOS update executable or create a bootable USB if using the BIOS flash utility
  7. Follow the on-screen prompts and allow the system to reboot to complete the update
  8. Verify the BIOS version after update matches the fixed release version
Caveat BIOS updates carry inherent risk of system incompatibility; ensure correct model and version to avoid boot failure; backup data before proceeding

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
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
17.0 hours of engineering $3,050
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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-2023-28042 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

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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