CVE-2023-5078

Privileged firmware tampering

Published Nov 8, 2023 · Updated Sep 16, 2024

Firmware integrity failure in Lenovo ThinkPad BIOS allows local users with elevated privileges or physically proximate attackers to tamper with firmware. Lenovo has not disclosed which BIOS component is incorrectly initialized or how that condition permits unauthorized firmware modification. Exploitation requires physical access or elevated local privileges and can compromise persistent pre-boot code.

CVSS severity6.7
Medium
EPSS probability0.22%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Firmware integrity failure in Lenovo ThinkPad BIOS allows local users with elevated privileges or physically proximate attackers to tamper with firmware. Lenovo has not disclosed which BIOS component is incorrectly initialized or how that condition permits unauthorized firmware modification. Exploitation requires physical access or elevated local privileges and can compromise persistent pre-boot code.

The record

CVE
CVE-2023-5078
Published
Nov 8, 2023
Updated
Sep 16, 2024
Vendor
Lenovo
Product
ThinkPad BIOS
Classifications
CWE-1419, T1542.001
Attack vector
local
Privileges
admin

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Nov 8, 2023CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Sep 16, 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=various

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesadmin

What is affected?

Lenovo · ThinkPad BIOSversion=various
Lenovo · ThinkPadversion=various

Published CVSS scores

6.7LenovoCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/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.

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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-1419Incorrect Initialization of Resource
T1542.001Pre-OS Boot: System Firmware

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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