# CVE-2021-0188: Privilege escalation in Intel(R) Processors

> A privileged local attacker can exploit a BIOS firmware flaw in Intel processors to escalate privileges.

- **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:** 12 May 2022
- **Updated:** 5 May 2025
- **Also known as:** GHSA-vhvw-mwr5-fw35

## What is CVE-2021-0188?

CVE-2021-0188 is a high-severity vulnerability in Intel(R) Processors, published on 12 May 2022. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

Return of pointer value outside of expected range in the BIOS firmware for some Intel(R) Processors may allow a privileged user to potentially enable aescalation of privilege via local access.

Weakness: CWE-119 (Improper Restriction of Operations within the Bounds of a Memory Buffer)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2021-0188?

It affects 37 products.


Products: Intel Xeon E3-1220 V5 Firmware, Intel Xeon E3-1220 V6 Firmware, Intel Xeon E3-1225 V5 Firmware, Intel Xeon E3-1225 V6 Firmware, Intel Xeon E3-1230 V5 Firmware, Intel Xeon E3-1230 V6 Firmware, Intel Xeon E3-1235l V5 Firmware, Intel Xeon E3-1240 V5 Firmware, Intel Xeon E3-1240 V6 Firmware, Intel Xeon E3-1240l V5 Firmware, Intel Xeon E3-1245 V5 Firmware, Intel Xeon E3-1245 V6 Firmware, Intel Xeon E3-1260l V5 Firmware, Intel Xeon E3-1268l V5 Firmware, Intel Xeon E3-1270 V5 Firmware, Intel Xeon E3-1270 V6 Firmware, Intel Xeon E3-1275 V5 Firmware, Intel Xeon E3-1275 V6 Firmware, Intel Xeon E3-1280 V5 Firmware, Intel Xeon E3-1280 V6 Firmware and 17 more.

## How do I fix CVE-2021-0188?

No fix has been published for CVE-2021-0188 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2021-0188 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-0188 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2021-0188 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2021-0188 is a high-severity vulnerability in Intel(R) Processors, published on 12 May 2022. 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-2021-0188 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Intel(R) Processors. 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-2021-0188/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-0188/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-0188
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-0188
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2021-0188

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-0188/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.