CVE-2024-38796
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 · uneditedEDK2 contains a vulnerability in the PeCoffLoaderRelocateImage(). An Attacker may cause memory corruption due to an overflow via an adjacent network. A successful exploit of this vulnerability may lead to a loss of Confidentiality, Integrity, and/or 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 confidenceEDK2 contains an overflow vulnerability in the PeCoffLoaderRelocateImage() function used for loading PE/COFF executables in UEFI firmware. The overflow can cause memory corruption when processing specially crafted images, potentially allowing an attacker with adjacent network access to impact confidentiality, integrity, and availability.
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
- Adjacent
- Complexity
- High
- Privileges
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- Low
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- Low
CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:H/A:L
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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Check UEFI firmware versionAccess system BIOS/UEFI setup (typically press Del, F2, or F12 at boot) and note the firmware version, or use tools like 'dmidecode -s bios-version' on Linux or 'Get-PnpDevice' on Windows to retrieve firmware version informationAffected if The installed firmware version is older than the patched version released by your system vendor for this CVE
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Identify the firmware vendorNote the system manufacturer (OEM) and system model - EDK2 is used by many vendors but patches are distributed through vendor-specific BIOS/UEFI updatesAffected if You cannot determine the system vendor or are running custom/unsigned firmware not sourced from an OEM
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Confirm PE/COFF image loading is in useThis is a core UEFI function - check if the system uses standard UEFI boot (most systems do). The vulnerability affects any attempt to load PE/COFF executables via the PeCoffLoaderRelocateImage function during firmware operationAffected if The system uses EDK2-based UEFI firmware and loads PE/COFF images during boot or runtime (this is standard behavior)
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Check for adjacent network exposureEvaluate whether the system has network connectivity accessible to adjacent attackers (Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, Ethernet in shared network segments)Affected if The system has adjacent network attack surface that could be used to deliver a specially crafted PE/COFF image
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Verify firmware update availabilityVisit the system vendor support website and search for BIOS/firmware updates related to CVE-2024-38796 or the PeCoffLoaderRelocateImage overflowAffected if A firmware update exists for your system but has not been applied, or no update is yet available from your vendor
You are affected if your system uses EDK2-based UEFI firmware and an official security patch for this CVE has not been applied, regardless of whether you can confirm the exact version range.
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 EDK2 security update that patches PeCoffLoaderRelocateImage(). Deploy the updated UEFI/BIOS firmware from the system vendor. Consider network segmentation to limit adjacent attack surface until patching is complete.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation16.0 h
- Testing12.0 h
- Review / QA8.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2024-38796 — 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-2024-38796 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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