# CVE-2023-29494: Privilege escalation in Intel(R) NUCs

> A privileged local attacker can escalate privileges via improper input validation in Intel NUC BIOS firmware.

- **Severity:** High 7.5 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** An administrator
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 11 Aug 2023
- **Updated:** 18 Oct 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-wjgj-4qcm-c5c9

## What is CVE-2023-29494?

CVE-2023-29494 is a high-severity vulnerability in Intel(R) NUCs, published on 11 Aug 2023. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

Improper input validation in BIOS firmware for some Intel(R) NUCs may allow a privileged user to potentially enable escalation of privilege via local access.

Weakness: CWE-20 (Improper Input Validation)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-29494?

It affects 24 products.


Products: Intel Nuc 11 Pro Board Nuc11tnbi30z Firmware, Intel Nuc 11 Pro Board Nuc11tnbi3 Firmware, Intel Nuc 11 Pro Board Nuc11tnbi50z Firmware, Intel Nuc 11 Pro Board Nuc11tnbi5 Firmware, Intel Nuc 11 Pro Board Nuc11tnbi70z Firmware, Intel Nuc 11 Pro Board Nuc11tnbi7 Firmware, Intel Nuc 11 Pro Kit Nuc11tnhi30l Firmware, Intel Nuc 11 Pro Kit Nuc11tnhi30p Firmware, Intel Nuc 11 Pro Kit Nuc11tnhi30z Firmware, Intel Nuc 11 Pro Kit Nuc11tnhi3 Firmware, Intel Nuc 11 Pro Kit Nuc11tnhi50l Firmware, Intel Nuc 11 Pro Kit Nuc11tnhi50w Firmware, Intel Nuc 11 Pro Kit Nuc11tnhi50z Firmware, Intel Nuc 11 Pro Kit Nuc11tnhi5 Firmware, Intel Nuc 11 Pro Kit Nuc11tnhi70l Firmware, Intel Nuc 11 Pro Kit Nuc11tnhi70q Firmware, Intel Nuc 11 Pro Kit Nuc11tnhi70z Firmware, Intel Nuc 11 Pro Kit Nuc11tnhi7 Firmware, Intel Nuc 11 Pro Kit Nuc11tnki30z Firmware, Intel Nuc 11 Pro Kit Nuc11tnki3 Firmware and 4 more.

## How do I fix CVE-2023-29494?

No fix has been published for CVE-2023-29494 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2023-29494 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-29494 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Intel(R) NUCs

- [CVE-2022-37334](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-37334/): Privilege escalation in Intel(R) NUC 11 Pro Kits and Intel(R) NUC 11 Pro Boards (high 7.0)
- [CVE-2023-27887](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-27887/): Information disclosure in Intel(R) NUCs (medium 6.1)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2023-29494 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2023-29494 is a high-severity vulnerability in Intel(R) NUCs, published on 11 Aug 2023. 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-2023-29494 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Intel(R) NUCs. 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-2023-29494/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-29494/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-29494
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-29494
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-29494

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From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-29494/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.