CVE-2023-33017
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 · uneditedMemory corruption in Boot while running a ListVars test in UEFI Menu during boot.
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 confidenceMemory corruption vulnerability in UEFI Boot firmware that triggers when running the ListVars test from the UEFI Menu during system boot. The corruption occurs during the variable listing operation, likely due to improper bounds checking or buffer handling when enumerating UEFI variables.
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
- 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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify the Qualcomm firmware component in your systemCheck system inventory, BIOS/UEFI settings, or modem firmware logs to determine which Qualcomm product(s) are present (315 5G IoT Modem, 9205/9206/9207 LTE Modem, Aqt1000, Ar8031, Ar8035, or C V2x 9150)Affected if Any of the listed Qualcomm firmware components are present in the system
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Determine the firmware version of the Qualcomm componentAccess the modem firmware interface, system diagnostics, or UEFI settings to retrieve the installed firmware version information for the identified Qualcomm productAffected if The firmware version matches any of the listed affected products (all versions are vulnerable)
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Check if UEFI Menu is accessibleDuring system boot, attempt to access the UEFI/BIOS configuration menu (typically via F2, F12, Del or Esc key depending on system vendor) and look for a UEFI Menu optionAffected if The UEFI Menu is accessible and contains a ListVars test option
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Verify if ListVars test functionality existsWithin the UEFI Menu during boot, navigate to locate the ListVars test or variable listing feature - this is the specific trigger for the vulnerabilityAffected if The ListVars test or variable enumeration feature is present and can be executed
Your system is affected if it contains any of the listed Qualcomm firmware products and the ListVars test feature is accessible in the UEFI Menu, since all versions of these products 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 vendor-provided UEFI firmware updates addressing this vulnerability. If no patch is available, contact the system/bios vendor for guidance and consider disabling the ListVars test functionality in production environments.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation12.0 h
- Testing8.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-33017 — 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-2023-33017 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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