dbcve.org
13w Yoga FirmwareOperating system · Lenovo

CVE-2023-4028

MEDIUM · 6.7 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-08-17
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
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
A buffer overflow has been identified in the SystemUserMasterHddPwdDxe driver in some Lenovo Notebook products which may allow an attacker with local access and elevated privileges to execute arbitrary code.

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

A buffer overflow vulnerability exists in Lenovo's SystemUserMasterHddPwdDxe UEFI driver, which handles HDD password management. An attacker with local access and elevated privileges can exploit the overflow to execute arbitrary code in the system firmware context.

MitigationApply the Lenovo BIOS/firmware update for affected notebook models as specified in Lenovo's security advisory.

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
13w Yoga FirmwareOperating system
Affected:< jacn38ww
13w Yoga Gen 2 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:< kbcn20ww
Ideapad 1 11ada05 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:< fqcn29ww
Ideapad 1 11igl05 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:< dwcn28ww
Ideapad 1 14ada05 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:< fqcn29ww
Ideapad 1 14igl05 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:< dwcn28ww
Flex 5 14alc05 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:< gjcn32ww
Flex 5 14are05 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:< eecn43ww

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 Lenovo notebook model
    Run 'systeminfo' (Windows) or check the device label on the chassis. The system model name (e.g., 13w Yoga, Ideapad 1 11ada05, Flex 5 14alc05) must match one of the affected products listed.
    Affected if The model is any of: 13w Yoga, 13w Yoga Gen 2, Ideapad 1 11ada05, Ideapad 1 11igl05, Ideapad 1 14ada05, Ideapad 1 14igl05, Flex 5 14alc05, or Flex 5 14are05.
  2. Check the current BIOS/firmware version
    On Windows, run 'wmic bios get smbiosbiosversion' or check in BIOS/UEFI setup under ' BIOS Version' or 'System Information'. On Linux, run 'dmidecode -s bios-version'. Note the exact version string.
    Affected if The installed BIOS version is lower than the threshold for the specific model: jacn38ww (13w Yoga), kbcn20ww (13w Yoga Gen 2), fqcn29ww (Ideapad 1 11ada05/14ada05), dwcn28ww (Ideapad 1 11igl05/14igl05), gjcn32ww (Flex 5 14alc05), or eecn43ww (Flex 5 14are05).
  3. Confirm HDD password feature is accessible
    Access the BIOS/UEFI setup (press Enter or F2 during boot) and navigate to the 'Security' or 'HDD Password' section. The SystemUserMasterHddPwdDxe driver is only invoked when HDD password management is used.
    Affected if A HDD user or master password is set, or the feature is available in the BIOS setup menu - the driver executes whenever the HDD password subsystem is initialized.
  4. Verify local administrator access
    Confirm the user has local administrator or root privileges on the operating system. The attacker needs elevated privileges to interact with the UEFI driver.
    Affected if The user has local admin/root access - combined with the vulnerable driver version, this meets the privilege requirement for exploitation.

You are affected if your Lenovo model matches one of the eight affected products AND your installed BIOS version is below the specified threshold for that model, regardless of whether you actively use the HDD password feature since the driver loads at boot.

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

Apply the Lenovo BIOS/firmware update for affected notebook models as specified in Lenovo's security advisory.

Recommended fix High confidence

Upgrade to firmware version jacn38ww (13w Yoga), kbcn20ww (13w Yoga Gen 2), fqcn29ww (Ideapad 1 11ada05/14ada05), dwcn28ww (Ideapad 1 11igl05/14igl05), gjcn32ww (Flex 5 14alc05), or eecn43ww (Flex 5 14are05) or later

  1. 1. Identify the exact Lenovo notebook model number (e.g., 13w Yoga, Ideapad 1 11ada05, Flex 5 14are05)
  2. 2. Navigate to Lenovo's support website at support.lenovo.com
  3. 3. Enter the model number in the search field to access the product support page
  4. 4. Locate the 'Drivers & Software' or 'BIOS' section
  5. 5. Find the firmware update corresponding to the fixed version for your model: 13w Yoga: jacn38ww | 13w Yoga Gen 2: kbcn20ww | Ideapad 1 11ada05/14ada05: fqcn29ww | Ideapad 1 11igl05/14igl05: dwcn28ww | Flex 5 14alc05: gjcn32ww | Flex 5 14are05: eecn43ww
  6. 6. Download the firmware update package
  7. 7. Follow Lenovo's instructions to apply the firmware update, which typically requires running the executable and allowing the system to restart
Caveat Firmware updates carry inherent risks; ensure stable power during update process and back up critical data before applying

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

Fix this in 13w Yoga Firmware Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
10.0 hours of engineering $1,800
Get help mitigating

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,880.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-4028 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

Get it on GitHub Scan in the browser

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-2023-4028 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

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