The latest security information on Intel® products.

New BIOS available for Intel® Desktop Board products BIOS to prevent unauthorized downgrading to a previous BIOS version.

Summary: 

New BIOS is available for Intel® Desktop Board products BIOS to prevent downgrading to a previous BIOS version without supervisor/admin permission.

Description: 

To prevent an unauthorized user from flashing Intel® Desktop Board products to a previous BIOS version without an explicit confirmation from the supervisor/user, new BIOS versions are available. Older BIOS versions may be less secure than latest versions.

Affected products: 

Intel® Desktop Board products:             

D5400XS, DX58SO, DX48BT2, DX38BT, DP45SG, DQ45CB, DQ45EK, DQ43AP, DB43LD, DG41MJ, DG41RQ, DG41TY, DG45ID, DG45FC, DG43NB, DP43TF, DQ35EC, DQ35JO, DQ35MP, DG35EC, DG33BU, DG33FB, DG33TL, DG31GL, DG31PR, DP35DP, D945GSEJT, D945GCLF, D945GCLF2

Recommendations: 

While Intel is not aware of any use of the vulnerabilities described in this advisory, Intel has made changes to the BIOS of Intel® Desktop Boards to mitigate these issues. A password is now required in order to downgrade to a previous BIOS version providing a user/supervisor password is set. It is highly recommended to apply these updates to affected motherboards

.

To determine if you need this BIOS update check the BIOS version string. If the number is older than listed in the chart for your motherboard below you need to apply the update.

1) During boot, enter the BIOS setup by pressing F2.

2) Check the Main menu.

3) The 4-digit number after the '86A' or '86I' is the current BIOS version, as in this example: MQ96510H.86A.1663.2007.0319.1957

4) Press Escape to exit BIOS Setup

For the Intel products listed in the Affected Products table, Intel has made available updated BIOS per the table below.  The updated BIOS is available at http://www.intel.com/p/en_US/support.  On the 'Advanced Search' line, enter the affected product name (for example DG33BU) and click Search Support. Click on the found product, make sure you're under the support tab and select BIOS updates. Next click on the BIOS title, then follow the instructions on the download page for downloading and installing the BIOS update. Several options are available. For detailed instructions on updating your BIOS refer to http://www.intel.com/support/motherboards/desktop/sb/CS-022312.htm.

Acknowledgements: 

Intel would like to thank Alexander Tereshkin, Rafal Wojtczuk, and Joanna Rutkowska from Invisible Things Lab, http://invisiblethingslab.com, for working with us.