CPG BIOS: DMA Device Enabled Too Early in Boot Phase
CVE-2022-22566 is a high-severity DMA device enabled too early in boot phase vulnerability in CPG BIOS from Dell, with a CVSS 3.1 base score of 7.2 out of 10. It can be exploited with physical access to the device by an attacker with administrator privileges, without any action from a user. The record lists version 1.15 as the first without the flaw, so updating CPG BIOS to that release or later removes the exposure. There is no confirmed exploitation so far. EPSS estimates a 0.26% chance of exploitation within 30 days, which is low compared with other CVEs.
High severity with no evidence of exploitation so far.
What to do
- Update CPG BIOS to 1.15 or a later version.
- Update Alienware Area 51m R1 Firmware to 1.16.0 or a later version.
- Update Alienware Area 51m R2 Firmware to 1.11.0 or a later version.
- Read the advisory on dell.com for workarounds and exact fixed builds.
Affected products and versions
Version data comes from the organisation that assigned the CVE; 35 further products are omitted here. Confirm against the vendor advisory before deciding you are unaffected.
How the severity score breaks down
- Attack vector
- PhysicalThe attacker must physically touch the device.
- Attack complexity
- LowNo special conditions are needed; the attack works reliably.
- Privileges required
- HighAdministrator-level access is required first.
- User interaction
- NoneNo action by a victim is required.
- Scope
- ChangedThe attack can reach beyond the vulnerable component into other systems.
- Confidentiality
- HighAll data handled by the component can be read.
- Integrity
- HighData or code can be modified at will.
- Availability
- HighThe component can be taken down completely.
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:P/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H. Scored by NVD.
| Scoring system | Score | Severity | Scored by |
|---|---|---|---|
| CVSS 3.1 | 6.9 | Medium | CNA (emc.com) |
| CVSS 3.1 | 7.2 | High | NVD |
| CVSS 2.0 | 7.2 | High | NVD |
Official description
Select Dell Client Commercial and Consumer platforms contain a pre-boot direct memory access (DMA) vulnerability. An authenticated attacker with physical access to the system may potentially exploit this vulnerability in order to execute arbitrary code on the device.
Source: the CVE record as published by its numbering authority, via NVD and CVE.org.
The underlying weakness: DMA Device Enabled Too Early in Boot Phase
The product enables a Direct Memory Access (DMA) capable device before the security configuration settings are established, which allows an attacker to extract data from or gain privileges on the product.
How developers prevent this class of flaw
- Utilize an IOMMU to orchestrate IO access from the start of the boot process.
More DMA Device Enabled Too Early in Boot Phase vulnerabilities (CWE-1190)
Timeline
- CVE record published.
- Record last changed materially (score, affected products, status or references).
References
Other vulnerabilities in CPG BIOS
- 8.2 High severity
- 8.2 High severity
- 8.2 High severity
- 7.6 High severity
- 7.8 High severity
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