Millions of Dell PCs are at serious risk from hackers, here’s what YOU need to do

Dell laptop and desktop PC owners have been put on red alert about a security vulnerability that affects at least 30 million devices worldwide. Researchers from firmware security platform Eclypsium said the flaw, which affects 129 different models of Dell laptops, desktops and tablets, could allow hackers to carry out remote code execution attacks.

The Dell vulnerability is ranked 8.3 out of 10 on the CVSS scale, which is comfortably in its “high” ranking. This means the vulnerability is in the second highest CVSS threat tier.

Researchers discovered four vulnerabilities that affect Dell SupportAssist’s BIOSConnect feature. This bug could allow hackers to carry out remote code execution attacks within the BIOS of these devices. Speaking about their findings in a post online, Eclypsium said: “These vulnerabilities enable an attacker to remotely execute code in the pre-boot environment.

“Such code may alter the initial state of an operating system, violating common assumptions on the hardware/firmware layers and breaking OS-level security controls. As attackers increasingly shift their focus to vendor supply chains and system firmware, it is more important than ever that organisations have independent visibility and control over the integrity of their devices.”

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AFFECTED DELL PRODUCTS

Alienware m15 R6, ChengMing 3990, ChengMing 3991, Dell G15 5510, Dell G15 5511, Dell G3 3500, Dell G5 5500, Dell G7 7500, Dell G7 7700, Inspiron 14 5418, Inspiron 15 5518, Inspiron 15 7510, Inspiron 3501, Inspiron 3880, Inspiron 3881, Inspiron 3891, Inspiron 5300, Inspiron 5301, Inspiron 5310, Inspiron 5400 2n1, Inspiron 5400 AIO, Inspiron 5401, Inspiron 5401 AIO, Inspiron 5402, Inspiron 5406 2n1, Inspiron 5408, Inspiron 5409, Inspiron 5410 2-in-1, Inspiron 5501, Inspiron 5502, Inspiron 5508, Inspiron 5509, Inspiron 7300, Inspiron 7300 2n1, Inspiron 7306 2n1, Inspiron 7400, Inspiron 7500, Inspiron 7500 2n1 – Black, Inspiron 7500 2n1 – Silver, Inspiron 7501, Inspiron 7506 2n1, Inspiron 7610, Inspiron 7700 AIO, Inspiron 7706 2n1, Latitude 3120, Latitude 3320, Latitude 3410, Latitude 3420, Latitude 3510, Latitude 3520, Latitude 5310, Latitude 5310 2 in 1, Latitude 5320, Latitude 5320 2-in-1, Latitude 5410, Latitude 5411, Latitude 5420, Latitude 5510, Latitude 5511, Latitude 5520, Latitude 5521, Latitude 7210 2-in-1, Latitude 7310, Latitude 7320, Latitude 7320 Detachable, Latitude 7410, Latitude 7420, Latitude 7520, Latitude 9410, Latitude 9420, Latitude 9510, Latitude 9520, Latitude 5421, OptiPlex 3080, OptiPlex 3090 UFF, OptiPlex 3280 All-in-One, OptiPlex 5080, OptiPlex 5090 Tower, OptiPlex 5490 AIO, OptiPlex 7080, OptiPlex 7090 Tower, OptiPlex 7090 UFF, OptiPlex 7480 All-in-One, OptiPlex 7490 All-in-One, OptiPlex 7780 All-in-One, Precision 17 M5750, Precision 3440, Precision 3450, Precision 3550, Precision 3551, Precision 3560, Precision 3561, Precision 3640, Precision 3650 MT, Precision 5550, Precision 5560, Precision 5760, Precision 7550, Precision 7560, Precision 7750, Precision 7760, Vostro 14 5410, Vostro 15 5510, Vostro 15 7510, Vostro 3400, Vostro 3500, Vostro 3501, Vostro 3681, Vostro 3690, Vostro 3881, Vostro 3888, Vostro 3890, Vostro 5300, Vostro 5301, Vostro 5310, Vostro 5401, Vostro 5402, Vostro 5501, Vostro 5502, Vostro 5880, Vostro 5890, Vostro 7500, XPS 13 9305, XPS 13 2in1 9310, XPS 13 9310, XPS 15 9500, XPS 15 9510, XPS 17 9700, XPS 17 9710.