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Galaxy Book FirmwareOperating system · Samsung

CVE-2023-30738

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-10-04
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
80/100
Remediation priority · High
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
An improper input validation in UEFI Firmware prior to Firmware update Oct-2023 Release in Galaxy Book, Galaxy Book Pro, Galaxy Book Pro 360 and Galaxy Book Odyssey allows local attacker to execute SMM memory corruption.

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

This is an improper input validation vulnerability in UEFI firmware affecting Samsung Galaxy Book, Galaxy Book Pro, Galaxy Book Pro 360, and Galaxy Book Odyssey devices. A local attacker can exploit this flaw to execute System Management Mode (SMM) memory corruption, potentially achieving high-privilege code execution outside the normal operating system. The vulnerability exists in firmware versions prior to the October 2023 release.

MitigationUpdate UEFI firmware to the October 2023 release or later via Samsung's official firmware update mechanism. This is a firmware-level vulnerability with no application-level workarounds available; organizations should prioritize patching affected endpoints given the local privilege escalation potential.

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
Galaxy Book FirmwareOperating system
Affected:< oct-2023
Galaxy Book Pro FirmwareOperating system
Affected:< oct-2023
Galaxy Book Pro 360 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:< oct-2023
Galaxy Book Odyssey FirmwareOperating system
Affected:< oct-2023

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
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/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 device model
    Run 'systeminfo' on Windows or 'dmidecode -s system-product-name' on Linux to confirm the device is a Samsung Galaxy Book, Galaxy Book Pro, Galaxy Book Pro 360, or Galaxy Book Odyssey
    Affected if The model matches one of the four affected product names
  2. Retrieve UEFI firmware version on Windows
    Open Command Prompt and run 'wmic bios get smbiosbiosversion' or use 'systeminfo' and look for the BIOS version entry under System Information
    Affected if The firmware version cannot be determined or shows a version older than October 2023
  3. Retrieve UEFI firmware version on Linux
    Run 'sudo dmidecode -s bios-version' or check 'cat /sys/class/dmi/id/bios_version' to read the firmware version directly from DMI data
    Affected if The firmware version cannot be determined or shows a version older than October 2023
  4. Check firmware release date
    Cross-reference the retrieved firmware version with Samsung's official firmware release notes or support pages to determine if the installed version was released before October 2023
    Affected if The firmware was released prior to October 2023 or no release date information is available for the installed version
  5. Verify SMM is accessible
    This is a firmware-level vulnerability; if the device boots normally and the UEFI firmware is exploitable, the system is potentially affected. No user-facing configuration check is possible at the OS level
    Affected if The device is running unpatched firmware from before October 2023 on an affected model

If the device is a Samsung Galaxy Book, Galaxy Book Pro, Galaxy Book Pro 360, or Galaxy Book Odyssey and the UEFI firmware version dates earlier than October 2023, the environment is affected by this 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
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Update UEFI firmware to the October 2023 release or later via Samsung's official firmware update mechanism. This is a firmware-level vulnerability with no application-level workarounds available; organizations should prioritize patching affected endpoints given the local privilege escalation potential.

Recommended fix High confidence

October 2023 Firmware Release or later

  1. Visit the official Samsung support website (security.samsungmobile.com or samsung.com/support)
  2. Locate the firmware update for your specific Galaxy Book model (Galaxy Book, Galaxy Book Pro, Galaxy Book Pro 360, or Galaxy Book Odyssey)
  3. Download the October 2023 or later firmware update package for your exact model number
  4. Follow Samsung's official firmware flashing instructions, typically requiring the Samsung Firmware Installer or BIOS update utility
  5. Restart the device after applying the firmware update to ensure the security patch is fully applied
  6. Verify the installed firmware version matches the October 2023 release or later in the BIOS/UEFI settings
Caveat Firmware updates carry inherent risks; ensure stable power during update process and back up critical data before proceeding

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Galaxy Book Firmware Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
11.0 hours of engineering $1,980
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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-2023-30738 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