CVE-2023-41833
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 · uneditedA race condition in UEFI firmware for some Intel(R) processors 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 confidenceA race condition exists in UEFI firmware for certain Intel processors that allows a locally authenticated privileged user to escalate their privileges. The vulnerability stems from improper synchronization in the firmware code, enabling an attacker to exploit a timing window to gain elevated access.
Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.
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
- High
- Privileges
- High
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Changed
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/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 processor vendor and modelRun 'dmidecode -s processor-manufacturer' or 'wmic cpu get Name,Manufacturer' to determine if the system uses an Intel processorAffected if The system does not have an Intel processor, then it is not affected by this Intel-specific vulnerability
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Check the installed UEFI firmware versionAccess UEFI/BIOS setup during boot, or use 'dmidecode -s bios-version' (Linux) or 'wmic bios get SMBIOSBIOSVersion' (Windows) to retrieve the firmware versionAffected if The firmware version matches any Intel-published vulnerable version for this CVE; if the version is unknown or not listed, further verification against Intel advisory is needed
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Verify UEFI firmware is the active BIOS modeCheck if the system boots in UEFI mode by examining /sys/firmware/efi (Linux) or running 'msinfo32' looking for 'BIOS Mode: UEFI' (Windows)Affected if The system uses legacy BIOS mode without UEFI firmware, then the specific UEFI race condition does not apply
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Confirm local privileged access contextVerify the system allows local user accounts with administrative/root privileges (required for the authenticated attacker vector in this CVE)Affected if The system has no local privileged accounts and relies solely on domain/rbac controls without any local admin access, the exploitation path is limited but the firmware vulnerability still exists if version is affected
The system is affected if it runs Intel processor hardware with UEFI firmware versions that fall within the vulnerable range published by Intel for CVE-2023-41833; users should cross-reference their firmware version against Intel's official advisory for this CVE.
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 Intel firmware updates for affected processors; verify that systems running affected UEFI firmware versions are patched. Coordinate firmware updates through proper change management processes.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $6,176.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-41833 — 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-2023-41833 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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- 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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