CVE-2024-52541
Published: 19 February 2025
Summary
CVE-2024-52541 is a high-severity Weak Authentication (CWE-1390) vulnerability in Dell Alienware M15 R6 Firmware. Its CVSS base score is 8.2 (High).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique System Firmware (T1542.001); ranked at the 13.5th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
The strongest mitigations our analysis identified are NIST 800-53 SI-2 (Flaw Remediation) and IA-5 (Authenticator Management).
Threat & Defense at a Glance
Threat & Defense Details
Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5)AI
Directly mitigates the weak BIOS authentication vulnerability by requiring timely remediation through application of Dell's firmware patches as specified in DSA-2025-021.
Addresses weak authentication by mandating management of strong authenticators for BIOS access mechanisms exploited by high-privileged local attackers.
Verifies BIOS firmware integrity to prevent or detect unauthorized modifications that could be achieved via exploitation of the weak authentication for privilege escalation.
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise TechniquesAI
Why these techniques?
BIOS weak authentication directly enables local privilege escalation via system firmware manipulation (T1542.001) and general exploitation for privilege escalation (T1068).
NVD Description
Dell Client Platform BIOS contains a Weak Authentication vulnerability. A high privileged attacker with local access could potentially exploit this vulnerability, leading to Elevation of Privileges.
Deeper analysisAI
CVE-2024-52541 is a Weak Authentication vulnerability in the Dell Client Platform BIOS. This flaw, associated with CWE-1390, affects Dell client systems running the impacted BIOS firmware. Published on February 19, 2025, it carries a CVSS v3.1 base score of 8.2 (AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H), indicating high severity due to its potential for significant impact despite requiring local access and high privileges.
A high-privileged attacker with local access to the affected system could exploit this vulnerability to achieve elevation of privileges. The low attack complexity and lack of user interaction requirements make it feasible for such an attacker to bypass authentication mechanisms in the BIOS, potentially gaining broader control over the system's firmware and hardware resources.
Dell has addressed this issue in security advisory DSA-2025-021, available at https://www.dell.com/support/kbdoc/en-us/000258429/dsa-2025-021, which provides details on mitigation steps and available patches for affected BIOS versions. Security practitioners should consult this advisory to identify impacted systems and apply the recommended firmware updates promptly.
Details
- CWE(s)