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Poweredge R660 FirmwareOperating system · Dell

CVE-2024-0162

HIGH · 8.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-03-13
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 1.8.0 / 2.0.0 or later.
See remediation →
90/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
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
Dell PowerEdge Server BIOS and Dell Precision Rack BIOS contain an Improper SMM communication buffer verification vulnerability. A local low privileged attacker could potentially exploit this vulnerability leading to out-of-bound read/writes to SMRAM.

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

Dell PowerEdge and Precision Rack BIOS contains improper validation of buffers in System Management Mode (SMM) communication, allowing a local low-privileged attacker to perform out-of-bounds read/write operations in SMRAM (System Management RAM). This memory region is highly privileged and code executing there has full system control, making exploitation severe despite requiring local access.

MitigationApply the latest BIOS/firmware update from Dell for affected PowerEdge and Precision Rack systems. Given this is a firmware-level vulnerability, ensure the update is applied to all affected systems following Dell's documented BIOS update procedures.

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
Poweredge R660 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:< 2.0.0
Poweredge R760 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:< 2.0.0
Poweredge C6620 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:< 2.0.0
Poweredge Mx760c FirmwareOperating system
Affected:< 2.0.0
Poweredge R860 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:< 1.8.0
Poweredge R960 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:< 1.8.0
Poweredge Hs5610 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:< 2.0.0
Poweredge Hs5620 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:< 2.0.0

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
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Changed
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/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 PowerEdge model
    Check the system label on the chassis or run 'racadm getsysinfo' via iDRAC, or check DMIDECODE output for the system product name
    Affected if The model is one of: R660, R760, C6620, Mx760c, R860, R960, Hs5610, Hs5620
  2. Check installed BIOS version via iDRAC
    Log into iDRAC web interface and navigate to iDRAC Settings > Firmware > BIOS, or run 'racadm get BIOS.BiosBootSettings.1.BiosVersion'
    Affected if Version is below 2.0.0 for R660/R760/C6620/Mx760c/Hs5610/Hs5620, or below 1.8.0 for R860/R960
  3. Check BIOS version from operating system
    Run 'dmidecode -s bios-version' on Linux, or 'wmic bios get SMBIOSBIOSVersion' on Windows, or check /sys/class/dmi/id/bios_version
    Affected if The reported version matches the vulnerable thresholds above for your specific model
  4. Verify iDRAC firmware version (optional context)
    Run 'racadm get iDRAC.FirmwareInfo' to confirm iDRAC is accessible and note the BIOS version reported there as well
    Affected if iDRAC reports a BIOS version that falls below the fixed versions for your model

Your system is affected if it is a listed PowerEdge model and its current BIOS firmware version is less than 2.0.0 (for R660/R760/C6620/Mx760c/Hs5610/Hs5620) or less than 1.8.0 (for R860/R960).

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.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 1.8.0 / 2.0.0 or later
Fixed in 1.8.02.0.0
Interim mitigation

Apply the latest BIOS/firmware update from Dell for affected PowerEdge and Precision Rack systems. Given this is a firmware-level vulnerability, ensure the update is applied to all affected systems following Dell's documented BIOS update procedures.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

BIOS Firmware version 2.0.0 (for R660/R760/C6620/Mx760c/Hs5610/Hs5620) or 1.8.0 (for R860/R960)

  1. Identify the specific PowerEdge model from the affected list (R660, R760, C6620, Mx760c, R860, R960, Hs5610, or Hs5620)
  2. Navigate to Dell's support website (www.dell.com) and enter the server's Service Tag or product model
  3. Locate the BIOS/Firmware section for the specific PowerEdge model
  4. Download the BIOS update package corresponding to the fixed version (2.0.0 for R660/R760/C6620/Mx760c/Hs5610/Hs5620, or 1.8.0 for R860/R960)
  5. Review the update instructions and release notes provided by Dell
  6. Create a backup of the current BIOS configuration if possible (export settings via iDRAC or BIOS setup)
  7. Execute the BIOS update using one of Dell's recommended methods: iDRAC Web interface, Lifecycle Controller, or DOS-based flash utility
  8. Allow the update to complete without interrupting power - this may take several minutes
Caveat BIOS updates carry inherent risk of system unavailability if interrupted; ensure stable power and follow Dell's update procedures carefully

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Poweredge R660 Firmware Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation8.0 h
  • Implementation16.0 h
  • Testing8.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
36.0 hours of engineering $6,400
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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-2024-0162 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
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data