# CVE-2019-6171: Security feature bypass in BIOS

> Attackers with admin or physical access can bypass firmware signature checks to install unsigned Embedded Controller firmware on ThinkPad systems.

- **Severity:** Medium 6.4 (`CVSS:3.0/AV:P/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 19 Aug 2019
- **Updated:** 16 Sep 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-8pxc-53gq-54c7

## What is CVE-2019-6171?

CVE-2019-6171 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Lenovo BIOS, published on 19 Aug 2019. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

A vulnerability was reported in various BIOS versions of older ThinkPad systems that could allow a user with administrative privileges or physical access the ability to update the Embedded Controller with unsigned firmware.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2019-6171?

It affects 148 products.


Products: Lenovo 20a7 Firmware, Lenovo 20a8 Firmware, Lenovo 20a9 Firmware, Lenovo 20aa Firmware, Lenovo 20ab Firmware, Lenovo 20ac Firmware, Lenovo 20aj Firmware, Lenovo 20ak Firmware, Lenovo 20al Firmware, Lenovo 20am Firmware, Lenovo 20an Firmware, Lenovo 20aq Firmware, Lenovo 20ar Firmware, Lenovo 20aw Firmware, Lenovo 20b0 Firmware, Lenovo 20b3 Firmware, Lenovo 20b6 Firmware, Lenovo 20b7 Firmware, Lenovo 20be Firmware, Lenovo 20bf Firmware and 128 more.

## How do I fix CVE-2019-6171?

No fix has been published for CVE-2019-6171 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2019-6171 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2019-6171 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2019-6171 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2019-6171 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Lenovo BIOS, published on 19 Aug 2019. 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-2019-6171 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Lenovo BIOS. 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-2019-6171/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-6171/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2019-6171
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2019-6171
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2019-6171

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From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-6171/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.