Aptio VOperating system · Ami

CVE-2024-33659

HIGH · 8.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-02-11
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 5.038 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
AMI APTIOV contains a vulnerability in BIOS where an attacker may cause an Improper Input Validation by a local attacker. Successful exploitation of these vulnerabilities may lead to overwriting arbitrary memory and execute arbitrary code at SMM level, also impacting Confidentiality, Integrity, and Availability.

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

AMI APTIOV BIOS contains an improper input validation vulnerability that allows a local attacker to overwrite arbitrary memory and execute arbitrary code at SMM (System Management Mode) level, which operates at the highest privilege level below the operating system.

MitigationApply the vendor-supplied BIOS firmware update from the system OEM. This is a firmware-level fix that requires flashing new BIOS, typically requiring administrative privileges and potentially physical access.

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
Aptio VOperating system
Affected:>= 5.0, < 5.038

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 the BIOS firmware vendor and platform
    Use system information tools (dmidecode on Linux, msinfo32 on Windows, or the BIOS/UEFI setup utility) to determine the BIOS firmware vendor and platform name
    Affected if The system uses AMI Aptio V as the BIOS/firmware platform
  2. Retrieve the installed BIOS version
    Obtain the BIOS version string from system information utilities, manufacturer tools, or the UEFI/BIOS setup screen
    Affected if The installed BIOS version is AMI Aptio V and falls within the range >= 5.0 and < 5.038
  3. Confirm local access to the system
    Verify the presence of local attacker access vectors such as physical access, operating system privileges, or ability to interact with system management mode interfaces
    Affected if A local attacker can potentially trigger the improper input validation to overwrite memory and execute code at SMM level

The system is affected if it runs AMI Aptio V firmware version 5.0 through 5.037, since the vulnerability allows code execution at the highest x86 privilege level (SMM) through improper input validation.

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 5.038 or later
Fixed in 5.038
Interim mitigation

Apply the vendor-supplied BIOS firmware update from the system OEM. This is a firmware-level fix that requires flashing new BIOS, typically requiring administrative privileges and potentially physical access.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

APTIO V firmware version 5.038 or later

  1. Obtain the fixed APTIO V firmware version 5.038 or later from the motherboard/BIOS vendor
  2. Verify the firmware binary integrity using vendor-provided checksums before flashing
  3. Apply the firmware update through the vendor-recommended method (e.g., flash utility, BIOS update tool, or in-band update process)
  4. After updating, verify the BIOS version reflects 5.038 or higher to confirm successful remediation
  5. Ensure the system is powered continuously during the update process to prevent firmware corruption
Caveat Firmware updates carry risk of system unbootability if interrupted; ensure stable power and follow vendor update procedures precisely

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

Fix this in Aptio V Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
17.0 hours of engineering $3,050
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Scan for this in your stack

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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-2024-33659 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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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