CVE-2021-36284

Administrator password brute force via attempt-limit bypass

Published Sep 28, 2021 · Updated Sep 17, 2024

Improper attempt limiting in Dell Client Platform BIOS before 1.7.0 allows local users with administrator privileges to brute-force its administrator password. Dell has not published the affected firmware routine or implementation error; it states that excessive administrator-password attempt mitigations can be bypassed. Exploitation requires local authenticated administrator access and can expose BIOS settings protected by the recovered password.

CVSS severity5.7
Medium
EPSS probability0.23%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
Coverage for this vulnerability

See if you're affected

Explore vulnerability checks for your environment with Hinoki.

Book a demo

Summary

What happened

Improper attempt limiting in Dell Client Platform BIOS before 1.7.0 allows local users with administrator privileges to brute-force its administrator password. Dell has not published the affected firmware routine or implementation error; it states that excessive administrator-password attempt mitigations can be bypassed. Exploitation requires local authenticated administrator access and can expose BIOS settings protected by the recovered password.

The record

CVE
CVE-2021-36284
Published
Sep 28, 2021
Updated
Sep 17, 2024
Vendor
Dell
Product
Dell Client Platform BIOS
Classifications
CWE-307, T1110.001
Attack vector
local
Privileges
admin

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Sep 28, 2021CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Sep 17, 2024Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

Compare your product and version with the public record. A matching version still requires validation against your environment.

Is a vulnerable build present?

Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.

  1. Affected versionversion=unspecified <1.7.0

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesadmin

What is affected?

Dell · Dell Client Platform BIOSversion=unspecified <1.7.0

Published CVSS scores

2.1NVDAV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:N/A:N
5.7DellCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:L
4.4NVDCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N

CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.

Attacks

What attackers are doing with it

Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.

Daily unique IPsNo honeypot observations are available for this CVE in the selected window.

No observations available

Sep 10, 2026Sep 16, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 16, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectorlocal
Privilegesadmin
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-307Improper Restriction of Excessive Authentication Attempts
T1110.001Password Guessing

Public exploit references

No public exploit references are available in this record.

Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.

Technologies

Your stack

See the directory against your own environment.

Your stack

Check the software in your environment

Book a demo to see how Hinoki identifies affected software and validates exploitability in your environment.

Book a demo