Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
This is a firmware-level issue in AMI Aptio 5.x affecting the early boot resume path. It requires physical access and high privileges, but successful abuse could undermine the trust boundary below the operating system, exposing memory and secrets across virtualized or confidential-computing workloads.
Executive priority
Treat this as high priority for systems protecting sensitive workloads, especially virtualization or confidential-computing environments. The attack prerequisites reduce broad internet risk, but compromise would occur below the operating system and could weaken core isolation guarantees.
Technical view
CVE-2022-40246 is a CWE-123 arbitrary write in the AMI Aptio 5.x SbPei module. During S3 resume in the PEI phase, a high-privileged physical attacker can write one byte to an arbitrary address and influence later boot stages. Reported impact includes code execution during PEI, mitigation bypass, memory disclosure, VM secret exposure, isolation bypass, and possible SMRAM injection.
Likely exposure
Systems are most likely exposed if they ship AMI Aptio 5.x firmware containing the identified SbPei module GUID or SHA256. Exposure is hardware and firmware specific, so asset owners should confirm with OEM firmware inventories and vendor advisories.
Exploitation context
The provided sources do not show CISA KEV listing or active exploitation. The CVSS vector indicates physical attack access, low attack complexity, high privileges, no user interaction, changed scope, and high confidentiality, integrity, and availability impact.
Researcher notes
Evidence is specific to AMI Aptio 5.x SbPei. The source bundle names module GUID c1fbd624-27ea-40d1-aa48-94c3dc5c7e0d and SHA256 d827182e5f9b7a9ff0b9d3e232f7cfac43b5237e2681e11f005be627a49283a9. No exploit-in-the-wild evidence is provided.
Mitigation direction
- Identify systems using AMI Aptio 5.x firmware and the affected SbPei module.
- Check AMI and OEM security guidance for CVE-2022-40246-specific firmware remediation.
- Apply only vendor- or OEM-approved firmware updates for affected platforms.
- Restrict physical access to systems until firmware exposure is resolved.
- Review sleep and S3 resume policies on sensitive systems with virtualization workloads.
Validation and detection
- Inventory firmware versions across servers, workstations, and appliances using AMI Aptio.
- Compare firmware images against the reported SbPei GUID and SHA256.
- Confirm whether the platform supports or uses S3 resume boot mode.
- Check vendor advisories for affected and fixed firmware build identifiers.
- Document systems hosting VMs or confidential-computing workloads as higher priority.
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
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CWE-123: Exact CWE lookup
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Open ATT&CK lookupExecution behavior lookup
The CVE wording references code or command execution, so execution technique review may help defensive triage. This is a Glexia inferred lookup path, not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, or CVE Program mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupCVE-2022-40246 mapping review
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Open ATT&CK lookup- Severity
- High
- CVSS
- 7.2 (3.1)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:P/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/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:P/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H0.56Primary CVE scoreVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.1 score
7.2HighVector: CVSS:3.1/AV:P/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- https://www.ami.com/security-center/CVE reference · x_refsource_MISC
- https://www.binarly.io/advisories/BRLY-2022-014CVE reference · x_refsource_MISC
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.
Write-what-where Condition
Write-what-where Condition represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.