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Vulnerability Intelligence Report
SMM memory corruption vulnerability in OverClockSmiHandler SMM driver

CVE-2022-40261

An attacker can exploit this vulnerability to elevate privileges from ring 0 to ring -2, execute arbitrary code in System Management Mode - an environment more privileged than operating system (OS) and completely isolated from it. Running arbitrary code in SMM additionally bypasses SMM-based SPI flash protections against modifications, which can help an attacker to install a firmware backdoor/implant into BIOS. Such a malicious firmware code in BIOS could persist across operating system re-installs. Additionally, this vulnerability potentially could be used by malicious actors to bypass security mechanisms provided by UEFI firmware (for example, Secure Boot and some types of memory isolation for hypervisors). This issue affects: Module name: OverClockSmiHandler SHA256: a204699576e1a48ce915d9d9423380c8e4c197003baf9d17e6504f0265f3039c Module GUID: 4698C2BD-A903-410E-AD1F-5EEF3A1AE422

No Active Exploit Signals
CVSS Base Score
8.2
HIGH
Exploitability:1.5
Impact Score:6.1
EPSS Probability:0.32%
Executive Threat Verdict
Evaluating...
Evaluating Threat Landscape...
Assessing known weaponization, exploitation telemetry, and federal advisories.
Attack Surface
Authentication
Weaponization
SSVC Action

Weaknesses (CWE)

CWE-120 ↗CWE-120 Buffer Overflow

Affected Products & Versions

Vendor Product Affected Versions
AMI Aptio 5.x (affected)

References & Technical Advisories

No reference links found.

Threat Intelligence Signals

EPSS Score
0.317%

Identity & Timeline

StatusPUBLISHED
Assigning AuthorityCERT/CC · CERT · USA
Reserved2022-09-08T00:00:00
Published2022-09-20T17:35:35
Patch Date2022-08-11
Last Updated2025-05-28T18:06:33

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