CVE-2023-28058
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 a UEFI variable. This could enable persistent firmware-level modifications that survive operating system reinstallations.
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 Dell Alienware system modelRun 'wmic computersystem get model' on Windows or 'dmidecode -s system-product-name' on Linux to determine the exact model numberAffected if The model is not one of these: Alienware Area 51m R1, Area 51m R2, Aurora R11, Aurora R12, Aurora R13, Aurora R15, M15 R2, or M15 R3
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Check your current BIOS firmware versionRun 'wmic bios get smbiosbiosversion' on Windows or 'dmidecode -s bios-version' on Linux to retrieve the installed BIOS versionAffected if The installed version matches or exceeds one of 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 - if version is LOWER than the threshold, you are affected
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Verify administrator privileges exist on the systemCheck if local administrator accounts exist or if the current user has elevated privileges using 'whoami /groups' on Windows or 'id' on LinuxAffected if You have local administrator or root access, which would enable the exploitation path described in the CVE
You are affected if you are running one of the listed Alienware models with a BIOS version below the specified threshold and have administrator accounts configured on the system.
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 Dell BIOS/firmware updates from the vendor's support site. Restrict physical access to systems and limit administrator privileges to only necessary personnel.
Firmware upgrade to the version specified in Dell's security advisory for the specific Alienware model (1.26.0, 1.22.0, 1.0.20, 1.1.20, 1.12.0, 1.1.0, or 1.23.0 depending on model)
- 1. Identify the exact Alienware system model (e.g., Area 51m R1, Aurora R11, M15 R3, etc.)
- 2. Navigate to the Dell Support website (www.dell.com) and enter the system Service Tag or search for the product by name
- 3. Locate the BIOS/UEFI firmware update section for the identified model
- 4. Download the firmware update version that matches or exceeds the fixed version for your specific 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
- 5. Run the Dell firmware update utility as an administrator
- 6. Follow the on-screen prompts to complete the BIOS update; the system will automatically restart
- 7. After the update completes, verify the BIOS version matches the expected fixed version through Dell Update or BIOS setup (press F2 during boot)
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation6.0 h
- Implementation12.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-28058 — 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-2023-28058 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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