CVE-2023-34438

Privileged escalation via undisclosed firmware race condition

Published Aug 11, 2023 · Updated Aug 2, 2024

Race condition in Intel NUC BIOS firmware allows local users with privileged access to escalate privileges through local access. Intel identifies a race during access to an alternate channel but has not published the affected firmware locus or unsynchronized operation. Exploitation requires high privileges on an affected NUC and can cross a security boundary with confidentiality, integrity, and availability impact.

CVSS severity7.5
High
EPSS probability0.10%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Race condition in Intel NUC BIOS firmware allows local users with privileged access to escalate privileges through local access. Intel identifies a race during access to an alternate channel but has not published the affected firmware locus or unsynchronized operation. Exploitation requires high privileges on an affected NUC and can cross a security boundary with confidentiality, integrity, and availability impact.

The record

CVE
CVE-2023-34438
Published
Aug 11, 2023
Updated
Aug 2, 2024
Vendor
Topcon Positioning Systems, Inc.
Product
Intel NUC BIOS Firmware
Classifications
CWE-421, CWE-362, T1068
Attack vector
local
Privileges
admin

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Aug 11, 2023CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Aug 2, 2024Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

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Is a vulnerable build present?

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

  1. Affected versionversion=See references

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesadmin

What is affected?

Topcon Positioning Systems, Inc. · Intel NUC BIOS Firmwareversion=See references

Published CVSS scores

7.8NIST NVDCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
7.5Intel CorporationCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H

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-421Race Condition During Access to Alternate Channel
CWE-362Concurrent Execution using Shared Resource with Improper Synchronization ('Race Condition')
T1068Exploitation for Privilege Escalation

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

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Your stack

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