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Improper Access ControlWeakness · CWE-284

CVE-2023-43626

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-09-16
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
77/100
Remediation priority · High
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
Improper access control 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 confidence

This is an improper access control vulnerability in the UEFI firmware of certain Intel processors. The flaw allows a user who already has some privileged access on the system to potentially escalate their privileges to a higher level (such as administrator or root). The vulnerability is exploitable only through local access, not remotely.

MitigationApply the Intel firmware update (refer to Intel security advisory INTEL-SA-00xxx) for affected processors. This typically involves updating the system BIOS/UEFI firmware to the patched version provided by the system manufacturer.

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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify your Intel processor model
    Run 'wmic cpu get name' on Windows or 'cat /proc/cpuinfo' on Linux to see the processor model
    Affected if The processor is from Intel and the model is from a generation that has had this vulnerability reported (consult Intel advisory INTEL-SA-00xxx for specific model numbers)
  2. Determine your current privilege level
    Check if your current user account has administrative/root privileges. On Windows: run 'whoami /priv' or check if in Administrators group. On Linux: run 'id' or 'whoami' to see if uid=0
    Affected if You have some elevated privileges already (such as administrator or a privileged user group) and are seeking to escalate to the highest privilege level
  3. Check UEFI firmware version
    Access system BIOS/UEFI setup during boot (typically via Del, F2, F12 depending on manufacturer) or use tools like 'dmidecode -s bios-version' on Linux or 'wmic bios get smbiosbiosversion' on Windows
    Affected if The installed UEFI/BIOS firmware version is older than the patched version provided by your system manufacturer (check Intel advisory for fixed version ranges)
  4. Verify local access requirement
    Confirm this is a local-only vulnerability - ensure the attack vector is physical console access or local shell, not remote network access
    Affected if You have physical console access or local shell access to the system where you could interact with UEFI interfaces
  5. Assess UEFI configuration state
    Check if UEFI boot services, variable services, or SMM (System Management Mode) interfaces are accessible from your current privilege context. On Linux, inspect 'dmesg' for SMM-related messages or review UEFI variable access patterns
    Affected if UEFI runtime services or SMM interfaces remain accessible from your current privilege level without proper restrictions

You are likely affected if you are running an older UEFI firmware version on a vulnerable Intel processor and already have some privileged access on the system, since the attacker needs local access to escalate from limited admin to full system control.

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.

From vendor data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Apply the Intel firmware update (refer to Intel security advisory INTEL-SA-00xxx) for affected processors. This typically involves updating the system BIOS/UEFI firmware to the patched version provided by the system manufacturer.

Have this fixed Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
10.0 hours of engineering $1,780
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Scan for this in your stack

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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-2023-43626 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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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
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