CVE-2023-32617
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 · uneditedImproper input validation in some Intel(R) NUC Rugged Kit, Intel(R) NUC Kit and Intel(R) Compute Element BIOS firmware may allow a privileged user to potentially enable escalation of privilege via local access.
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 confidenceThis vulnerability in Intel NUC BIOS firmware involves improper input validation that allows a privileged local user to potentially escalate their privileges. The issue is in the BIOS, which is the firmware controlling hardware initialization at the most fundamental level, making it a high-impact but locally-exploitable issue.
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 dataall versionsall versionsall versionsall versionsall versionsall versionsall versionsall versionsCVSS 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 the Intel NUC model numberCheck the physical system label on the NUC chassis, or boot into BIOS setup and look at the product name/model information, or use system information tools like 'dmidecode -s system-product-name' on Linux or 'wmic baseboard get product' on WindowsAffected if The model number does not match one of the affected models listed (Nuc7i7bnhx1, Nuc7i5bnkp, Nuc7i3bnhxf, Nuc7i7bnkq, Nuc7i3bnhx1, Nuc7i7bnhxg, Nuc7i5bnhxf, Nuc7i5bnhx1)
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Verify the specific NUC variantConfirm the exact product SKU by checking the BIOS information screen during boot (press F2 to enter BIOS setup), or check the original purchase documentation or Intel product specification sheetAffected if The exact model variant (including the suffix letters/numbers) does not match any of the eight affected product IDs
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Confirm local privileged access contextUnderstand that this vulnerability requires a privileged local user account on the system; check if the system has local user accounts with elevated privileges using 'whoami /all' on Windows or 'id' command on LinuxAffected if The system is used by unprivileged users only, as exploitation requires a privileged local attacker
Your Intel NUC is affected if it matches any of the eight specific model numbers listed (Nuc7i7bnhx1, Nuc7i5bnkp, Nuc7i3bnhxf, Nuc7i7bnkq, Nuc7i3bnhx1, Nuc7i7bnhxg, Nuc7i5bnhxf, Nuc7i5bnhx1) regardless of BIOS version, since all versions of these firmwares are vulnerable.
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.
From vendor dataApply the Intel-provided BIOS firmware update for the affected NUC Rugged Kit, NUC Kit, and Compute Element products. Updates are available through Intel's support website or Intel NUC Software Studio.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation3.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-32617 — 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-2023-32617 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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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.
- 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
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