CVE-2023-5078
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 vulnerability was reported in some ThinkPad BIOS that could allow a physical or local attacker with elevated privileges to tamper with BIOS firmware.
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 confidenceThis vulnerability in ThinkPad BIOS firmware allows a local or physical attacker with elevated privileges to tamper with the BIOS. The issue stems from insufficient validation or access controls within the BIOS update mechanism, potentially allowing modification of firmware contents.
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 versions< 1.19all 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
- 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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify ThinkPad modelCheck system model via 'systeminfo' (Windows) or 'dmidecode -s system-product-name' (Linux), or look for the model label on the deviceAffected if Model is one of: X13 Gen 3, S2 Yoga Gen 7, S2 Yoga Gen 6, S2 Gen 8, P14s Gen 3, P16s Gen 1, T14 Gen 3, or T14s Gen 3
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Check BIOS firmware versionEnter BIOS setup by pressing F1 during boot, or run 'dmidecode -s bios-version' on Linux, or check via Lenovo Vantage/System Update software on WindowsAffected if Version cannot be determined or is lower than the latest available from Lenovo for your model
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For S2 Yoga Gen 7 specifically, verify versionConfirm BIOS version is below 1.19 by comparing your installed version to the version range listedAffected if Model is S2 Yoga Gen 7 and BIOS version is below 1.19
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Verify physical security postureAssess whether the system could be accessed by untrusted individuals (physical access to laptop, ability to open and modify BIOS chip)Affected if System is physically accessible to untrusted persons and BIOS is not protected by password or other controls
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Check for BIOS modification indicatorsCompare current BIOS version against a known-good baseline if available, or use 'fwupdmgr verify' on Linux to check firmware integrityAffected if Current BIOS version differs from expected version or integrity check fails
You are affected if you own a listed ThinkPad model and your BIOS version falls within the affected ranges, particularly for S2 Yoga Gen 7 versions below 1.19, or any version on the other listed models.
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.
dbcve · scoped1.19
Apply the vendor-supplied BIOS firmware update from Lenovo for affected ThinkPad models. Verify BIOS integrity after update and ensure systems are protected against physical access by untrusted individuals.
Latest BIOS version available from Lenovo support for each affected model (e.g., Thinkpad S2 Yoga Gen 7 should update to version 1.19 or later)
- Visit support.lenovo.com and use the product search or compatibility checker to find your specific ThinkPad model
- Locate the BIOS/firmware updates section for your model
- Download and install the latest BIOS firmware version available from Lenovo
- Restart the system as instructed by the BIOS update utility to complete the flashing process
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-5078 — 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-2023-5078 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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