# CVE-2015-0949: Privilege escalation in EliteBook 850 G1

> Local attackers can bypass Secure Boot and gain privileges by exploiting improper SMRAM memory checks in Dell and HP laptop BIOS implementations.

- **Severity:** High 7.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 30 Jan 2020
- **Updated:** 6 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-fqcw-m4jp-3m5h

## What is CVE-2015-0949?

CVE-2015-0949 is a high-severity vulnerability in Dell EliteBook 850 G1, published on 30 Jan 2020. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

The System Management Mode (SMM) implementation in Dell Latitude E6430 BIOS Revision A09, HP EliteBook 850 G1 BIOS revision L71 Ver. 01.09, and possibly other BIOS implementations does not ensure that function calls operate on SMRAM memory locations, which allows local users to bypass the Secure Boot protection mechanism and gain privileges by leveraging write access to physical memory.

Weakness: CWE-269 (Improper Privilege Management)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2015-0949?

It affects 2 products.


Products: Dell Latitude E6430 Firmware, Hp Elitebook 850 G1 Firmware.

## How do I fix CVE-2015-0949?

No fix has been published for CVE-2015-0949 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2015-0949 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2015-0949 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2015-0949 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2015-0949 is a high-severity vulnerability in Dell EliteBook 850 G1, published on 30 Jan 2020. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2015-0949 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Dell EliteBook 850 G1. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2015-0949/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2015-0949/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2015-0949
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2015-0949
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2015-0949

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From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2015-0949/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.