SMRAM code execution via insufficiently validated SMI
Published Oct 12, 2022 · Updated May 15, 2025
Improper input validation in Dell Client Platform BIOS allows local users with administrator access to execute arbitrary code in SMRAM via an SMI. Dell identifies the SMI path as the locus but has not disclosed the affected handler, parameter, or specific validation error. Administrator-level local access is required, and successful exploitation runs attacker-controlled code outside the host operating system in protected SMRAM.
Summary
What happened
Improper input validation in Dell Client Platform BIOS allows local users with administrator access to execute arbitrary code in SMRAM via an SMI. Dell identifies the SMI path as the locus but has not disclosed the affected handler, parameter, or specific validation error. Administrator-level local access is required, and successful exploitation runs attacker-controlled code outside the host operating system in protected SMRAM.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2022-32488
- Published
- Oct 12, 2022
- Updated
- May 15, 2025
- Vendor
- Dell
- Product
- Dell Client Platform BIOS
- Classifications
- CWE-20, T1068
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- admin
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Oct 12, 2022CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- May 15, 2025Record 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 <OptiPlex 7770 All-In-One BIOS
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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