CVE-2024-21781
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 UEFI firmware for some Intel(R) Processors may allow a privileged user to enable information disclosure or denial of service 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 confidenceImproper input validation in UEFI firmware for certain Intel processors allows a privileged local user to potentially disclose information or cause denial of service. The vulnerability stems from insufficient validation of inputs within the UEFI firmware, which can be exploited by an attacker with local access and elevated privileges.
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
- None
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify your Intel processor modelRun 'wmic cpu get name' on Windows or 'cat /proc/cpuinfo | grep "model name"' on Linux to display the processor modelAffected if The processor is one of the Intel CPU models that received this firmware update (compare to Intel's product security advisories for this CVE)
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Determine the current UEFI/BIOS firmware versionOn Windows, run 'wmic bios get smbiosbiosversion' or check the BIOS setup screen on boot. On Linux, run 'dmidecode -s bios-version' or check /sys/class/dmi/id/bios_versionAffected if The installed firmware version is older than the version Intel released for your specific processor model to address this vulnerability
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Verify the system has local user accessConfirm that untrusted local users or processes could potentially obtain elevated privileges on the system (check user account permissions, sudo/Administrator group membership policies)Affected if Local users without administrative privileges exist and could potentially exploit this vulnerability if the firmware is unpatched
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Check if UEFI Secure Boot is enabledEnter BIOS/UEFI setup during boot and verify Secure Boot status, or run 'mokutil --sb-state' on LinuxAffected if Secure Boot is disabled (while this vulnerability is in firmware code, Secure Boot provides a defense-in-depth layer for firmware integrity)
You are affected if your Intel processor model is within the affected family listed in Intel's security advisory AND your current UEFI/BIOS firmware version predates the Intel-provided update for 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 Intel firmware update corresponding to the affected processor models. This typically involves obtaining the updated BIOS/UEFI firmware from Intel or the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) and applying it following vendor-specific instructions.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $5,120.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2024-21781 — 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-2024-21781 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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