There is no such thing as perfect software. All are susceptible to being hacked at some point when a vulnerability is discovered, so it is very important that the devices we buy have a good update policy. Now, Dell has just released an emergency update for 129 of its computers for a serious vulnerability.
The vulnerability is present in the BIOS of Dell computers, so an update through the operating system is not enough: you have to update the BIOS so that the computers are no longer vulnerable.
The BIOS in Dell, totally vulnerable
BIOS is one of the most sensitive elements of computers, since it allows making adjustments that are not accessible even from the computer itself, such as adjusting parameters such as the frequency of the RAM memory, activating virtualization, and a very long etcetera. In the wrong hands, this can cause an attacker to break the computer by modifying values.
However, this is not the worst of the dangers, since the vulnerability, discovered by cybersecurity researchers at Eclypsium , allows an attacker to execute arbitrary code to introduce any type of malware or steal any type of data from the computer. Therefore, an attacker can break our computer, and also steal information.
The flaw is in the BIOSConnect and HTTPS Boot functionality , which allow various BIOS settings to be controlled through a web interface.
In BIOSConnect they can perform a buffer overflow. An attacker with physical access to the device can exploit it to, with administrator permissions, exploit this vulnerability and bypass UEFI restrictions to run arbitrary code. This allows you to bypass BIOS protections such as Safe Boot, which checks the integrity of the operating system before booting it up.
In the case of HTTPS Boot , the vulnerability affects certificate validation, where an attacker can exploit it by carrying out a MitM attack and get all of our traffic.
Dell has released a BIOS update for all affected models, although it recommends that the update be done locally and not through the web tool, as it may be compromised and we would not be solving the problem.
In total there are four vulnerabilities, where three have a high severity and one has a medium severity. The vulnerabilities CVE-2021-21573 and CVE-2021-21574 were fixed by a server update May 28, 2021 and do not require any additional customer action. However, the vulnerabilities CVE-2021-21571 and CVE-2021-21572 do require updating the BIOS.
List of affected Dell models
In total there are 129 affected models. The list is as follows, and is available at this link . If your computer is affected, go to the support page for your specific model and download the latest version.
- Alienware m15 R6
- ChengMing 3990
- ChengMing 3991
- Dell G15 5510
- Dell G15 5511
- Dell G3 3500
- Dell G5 5500
- Dell G7 7500
- Dell G7 7700
- Inspiron 14 5418
- Inspiron 15 5518
- Inspiron 15 7510
- Inspiron 3501
- Inspiron 3880
- Inspiron 3881
- Inspiron 3891
- Inspiron 5300
- Inspiron 5301
- Inspiron 5310
- Inspiron 5400 2n1
- Inspiron 5400 AIO
- Inspiron 5401
- Inspiron 5401 AIO
- Inspiron 5402
- Inspiron 5406 2n1
- Inspiron 5408
- Inspiron 5409
- Inspiron 5410 2-in-1
- Inspiron 5501
- Inspiron 5502
- Inspiron 5508
- Inspiron 5509
- Inspiron 7300
- Inspiron 7300 2n1
- Inspiron 7306 2n1
- Inspiron 7400
- Inspiron 7500
- Inspiron 7500 2n1 – Black
- Inspiron 7500 2n1 – Silver
- Inspiron 7501
- Inspiron 7506 2n1
- Inspiron 7610
- Inspiron 7700 AIO
- Inspiron 7706 2n1
- Latitude 3120
- Latitude 3320
- Latitude 3410
- Latitude 3420
- Latitude 3510
- Latitude 3520
- Latitude 5310
- Latitude 5310 2 in 1
- Latitude 5320
- Latitude 5320 2-in-1
- Latitude 5410
- Latitude 5411
- Latitude 5420
- Latitude 5510
- Latitude 5511
- Latitude 5520
- Latitude 5521
- Latitude 7210 2-in-1
- Latitude 7310
- Latitude 7320
- Latitude 7320 Detachable
- Latitude 7410
- Latitude 7420
- Latitude 7520
- Latitude 9410
- Latitude 9420
- Latitude 9510
- Latitude 9520
- Latitude 5421
- OptiPlex 3080
- OptiPlex 3090 UFF
- OptiPlex 3280 All-in-One
- OptiPlex 5080
- OptiPlex 5090 Tower
- OptiPlex 5490 AIO
- OptiPlex 7080
- OptiPlex 7090 Tower
- OptiPlex 7090 UFF
- OptiPlex 7480 All-in-One
- OptiPlex 7490 All-in-One
- OptiPlex 7780 All-in-One
- Precision 17 M5750
- Precision 3440
- Precision 3450
- Precision 3550
- Precision 3551
- Precision 3560
- Precision 3561
- Precision 3640
- Precision 3650 MT
- Precision 5550
- Precision 5560
- Precision 5760
- Precision 7550
- Precision 7560
- Precision 7750
- Precision 7760
- Vostro 14 5410
- Vostro 15 5510
- Vostro 15 7510
- Vostro 3400
- Vostro 3500
- Vostro 3501
- Vostro 3681
- Vostro 3690
- Vostro 3881
- Vostro 3888
- Vostro 3890
- Vostro 5300
- Vostro 5301
- Vostro 5310
- Vostro 5401
- Vostro 5402
- Vostro 5501
- Vostro 5502
- Vostro 5880
- Vostro 5890
- Vostro 7500
- XPS 13 9305
- XPS 13 2in1 9310
- XPS 13 9310
- XPS 15 9500
- XPS 15 9510
- XPS 17 9700
- XPS 17 9710