CVE-2022-40261 - CVE House
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Status published Unknown CVE-2022-40261

SMM memory corruption vulnerability in OverClockSmiHandler SMM driver

Vulnerability Description

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

Impact Analysis

Refer to official advisory for detailed impact metrics.

Remediation

Ensure systems are updated to the latest vendor-supplied patch levels.

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Credits & Attribution

The following person or organization is credited with identifying this vulnerability, as recorded in the NVD database:

  • Binarly efiXplorer team

Affected Vendor

Affected Software

Aptio
Vulnerable Versions:
5.x

Timeline

Official Publish: September 20th, 2022
Last Modified: May 28th, 2025
Added to House: July 21st, 2026

CVSS Vectors

No vector data available

Weaknesses (CWE)