Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
CVE-2021-0156 is a high-severity Intel processor firmware issue. A local authenticated user could potentially gain higher privileges on affected systems. The risk is mainly for endpoints, servers, or appliances using affected Intel processors where an attacker already has local account access.
Executive priority
Treat this as a priority firmware remediation item for systems with affected Intel processors, especially shared workstations, servers, and appliances. It is not remote-first, but it can materially worsen a local compromise.
Technical view
The CVE describes improper input validation in firmware for some Intel processors, mapped to CWE-20. CVSS 3.1 is 7.8 with local attack vector, low complexity, low privileges, no user interaction, and high confidentiality, integrity, and availability impact.
Likely exposure
Exposure depends on whether systems use the Intel processor and firmware combinations listed in Intel SA-00527 or downstream vendor advisories such as NetApp NTAP-20220210-0007. The source bundle does not include the full affected version list.
Exploitation context
The bundle does not show CISA KEV listing or cited evidence of active exploitation. Exploitation requires authenticated local access, so this is most relevant after account compromise, insider misuse, or weak local access controls.
Researcher notes
Evidence is limited to the CVE record, Intel advisory reference, and NetApp advisory reference. Do not assume all Intel processors are affected; validate against the vendor advisory matrices. No exploit status is established by the provided sources.
Mitigation direction
- Review Intel SA-00527 for affected processor and firmware guidance.
- Check OEM or appliance vendor advisories before applying firmware changes.
- For NetApp environments, review NTAP-20220210-0007 for product-specific applicability.
- Apply only vendor-provided BIOS or firmware updates applicable to each platform.
- Limit local account access on systems that may contain affected processors.
Validation and detection
- Inventory Intel processor models and current firmware or BIOS versions.
- Compare inventory against Intel SA-00527 and relevant OEM advisories.
- Identify NetApp systems covered by NTAP-20220210-0007.
- Confirm post-remediation firmware versions match vendor guidance.
- Review local user access on potentially affected systems.
Public sources used
Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.
Conservative CVE-to-ATT&CK context
These mappings and lookup hints may be relevant to the vulnerability behavior, CWE, affected product, or exposure path. Glexia-inferred context is not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, CWE, or CVE Program mapping.
ATT&CK lookup starting points
Use these exact CWE pages and searches to review the Glexia ATT&CK library from this CVE's weakness and description context.
CWE-20: Exact CWE lookup
Use the exact CWE identifier as the starting point before reviewing related ATT&CK behavior. Open the exact CWE lookup page first, then review the ATT&CK searches from that MITRE weakness context. This is a Glexia lookup hint, not an official ATT&CK mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupCVE-2021-0156 mapping review
Open the CVE-to-ATT&CK bridge for reviewed, inferred, or future official mappings tied to this CVE.
Open ATT&CK lookup- Severity
- High
- CVSS
- 7.8 (3.1)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
CNA and ADP enrichment extracted from CVE v5
These fields come from the CVE record and ADP containers, not from Glexia's Take. They preserve time-varying source decisions such as CISA SSVC, KEV status, CVSS metrics, and provider references.
CVSS vector scores
1 official scoreWe collect every scored CVSS vector available in the official CNA and ADP containers. When more than one version is present, the table keeps the source vectors side by side instead of collapsing them into the highest score.
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H1.85.9Primary CVE scoreVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.1 score
7.8HighVector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/security-center/advisory/intel-sa-00527.htmlCVE reference · x_refsource_MISC
- https://security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20220210-0007/CVE reference · x_refsource_CONFIRM
Products and packages named in the record
CWE details
CWE links open Glexia weakness intelligence pages with official CWE context, developer remediation guidance, and related CVE mappings.
Improper Input Validation
Improper Input Validation represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.