SMM security bypass via SMI race condition
Published Sep 6, 2022 · Updated May 27, 2026
Race condition in Dell Client Platform BIOS allows local users to bypass security checks during SMM through crafted SMI input. Dell has not disclosed the competing operations, handler locus, or precise checked state that creates the race window. Exploitation requires high local privileges and high-complexity timing; successful exploitation bypasses SMM checks, with no reported code execution or availability loss.
Summary
What happened
Race condition in Dell Client Platform BIOS allows local users to bypass security checks during SMM through crafted SMI input. Dell has not disclosed the competing operations, handler locus, or precise checked state that creates the race window. Exploitation requires high local privileges and high-complexity timing; successful exploitation bypasses SMM checks, with no reported code execution or availability loss.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2022-26859
- Published
- Sep 6, 2022
- Updated
- May 27, 2026
- Vendor
- Dell
- Product
- Dell Client Platform BIOS
- Classifications
- CWE-367, T1211
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- admin
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Sep 6, 2022CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- May 27, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
Present is not the same as exploitable
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Is a vulnerable build present?
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- Affected versionversion=unspecified <All
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
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.
Weakness, pattern, technique
Public exploit references
No public exploit references are available in this record.
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Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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