Classic Buffer OverflowWeakness · CWE-120

CVE-2023-52080

HIGH · 7.7 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-04-29
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
82/100
Remediation priority · High
No privileges 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
IEIT NF5280M6 UEFI firmware through 8.4 has a pool overflow vulnerability, caused by improper use of the gRT->GetVariable() function. Attackers with access to local NVRAM variables can exploit this by modifying these variables on SPI Flash, resulting in memory data being tampered with. When critical data in memory data is tampered with,a crash may occur.

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 confidence

IEIT NF5280M6 UEFI firmware versions through 8.4 contain a pool overflow vulnerability stemming from improper use of the gRT->GetVariable() function. Attackers with local access to NVRAM variables can modify these variables on SPI Flash, causing memory data tampering that may lead to system crashes.

MitigationApply the vendor-supplied firmware update to patch the pool overflow vulnerability in gRT->GetVariable(). Restrict physical and local access to NVRAM variables and SPI Flash to prevent exploitation.

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
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
None
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/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 server model
    Check the system for IEIT NF5280M6 label or use commands like 'dmidecode -s system-product-name' or check BMC/IPMI for system information
    Affected if The system is not an IEIT NF5280M6 (different models have different firmware and may not be affected by this specific CVE)
  2. Retrieve UEFI firmware version
    Access UEFI/BIOS setup during boot and look for firmware version information, or use BMC/IPMI to query firmware version (e.g., 'ipmitool raw' or BMC web interface), or check /sys/firmware/efi on Linux if available
    Affected if Unable to determine firmware version - cannot assess vulnerability status
  3. Compare firmware version to affected range
    Note the firmware version displayed (typically shown as a number like X.Y) and compare against the affected range: versions through 8.4 are vulnerable
    Affected if Firmware version is 8.4 or lower - the vulnerable gRT->GetVariable() code is present in these versions
  4. Verify NVRAM variable accessibility
    Check if NVRAM variables can be read/written via UEFI shell, Linux efivarfs (/sys/firmware/efi/efivars), or BMC-based NVRAM tools
    Affected if NVRAM variables are accessible and readable - the prerequisite condition for exploiting the pool overflow exists; however, version check in step 3 is the primary indicator

The system is affected if it is an IEIT NF5280M6 server running UEFI firmware version 8.4 or lower, since the pool overflow vulnerability in gRT->GetVariable() exists in those versions.

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 vendor-supplied firmware update to patch the pool overflow vulnerability in gRT->GetVariable(). Restrict physical and local access to NVRAM variables and SPI Flash to prevent exploitation.

Have this fixed Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
12.0 hours of engineering $2,180
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Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

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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-2023-52080 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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