CVE-2023-42766
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 NUC 8 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 · high confidenceA privilege escalation vulnerability exists in Intel NUC 8 Compute Element BIOS firmware due to improper input validation. A local, already-privileged user can exploit this to gain higher privileges on the system through malformed input processed by the BIOS.
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= cbwhlmiv.103= cbwhlmiv.103CVSS 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 your Intel NUC 8 Compute Element modelCheck the label on the device or system information to confirm you have either the Cm8v5cb or Cm8v7cb model. This vulnerability only affects these specific Compute Element units.Affected if The model is NOT Cm8v5cb or Cm8v7cb, then this CVE does not apply to your hardware.
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Determine the installed BIOS firmware versionDuring boot, press F2 to enter BIOS setup and locate the BIOS version on the main or information page. Alternatively, on a running system, run 'dmidecode -s bios-version' on Linux or 'wmic bios get smbiosbiosversion' on Windows. Record the exact version string shown.Affected if You cannot retrieve a BIOS version or the system is not an Intel NUC 8 Compute Element.
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Compare your BIOS version to the affected versionCompare the version string you obtained against the affected version 'cbwhlmiv.103'. Note that this vulnerability affects exactly version cbwhlmiv.103; earlier versions may have different issues, and later versions (if available) would contain the fix.Affected if Your BIOS version is exactly cbwhlmiv.103 - this is the only version confirmed affected.
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Verify the BIOS is currently running the affected firmwareConfirm that the BIOS version displayed matches exactly 'cbwhlmiv.103' and that no BIOS update has been applied. You can cross-check by rebooting and entering BIOS setup again to verify the version persists.Affected if The BIOS is still at version cbwhlmiv.103 and no firmware update has been applied.
You are affected only if you own an Intel NUC 8 Compute Element (Cm8v5cb or Cm8v7cb) and your current BIOS firmware version is exactly cbwhlmiv.103; any other model or version is not impacted by 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 the latest BIOS firmware update from Intel for the NUC 8 Compute Element. Verify the update was successfully applied and confirm the vulnerability is no longer exploitable.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation1.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,696.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-42766 — 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-2023-42766 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
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