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Dell Client: Additional Information Regarding the March 2021 (GRUB) Vulnerability Disclosure

Summary: Vulnerabilities in GRUB (Grand Unified Bootloader) may allow Secure Boot bypass.

This article applies to This article does not apply to This article is not tied to any specific product. Not all product versions are identified in this article.

Security Article Type

Security KB

CVE Identifier

CVE-2020-14372    CVE-2020-25632    CVE-2020-25647    CVE-2020-27749    CVE-2020-27779
CVE-2021-20225    CVE-2021-20233

Issue Summary

Affected products: 
Dell Client Consumer and Commercial platforms

Details

Reference:     
Operating System provider’s advisories can be found on the following Dell Security Notice. Refer to KB article 183699:  DSN-2021-002 Dell Response to the March 2, 2021 Grub2 Vulnerability Disclosure

Recommendations

Frequently Asked Questions:     

Q: Which models are affected?
A: Dell Client and Commercial platforms that have UEFI Secure Boot enabled are impacted. Dell recommends that customers review their Operating System provider’s advisories for further information, including appropriate identification and additional mitigation measures.
Customer should follow security best practices and prevent unauthorized physical access to devices. Customer can also take the following measures to further protect themselves from physical attacks.
  1. Set BIOS Admin Password to prevent alteration of the BIOS Setup configuration, such as the boot device, and Secure Boot mode.
  2. Configure boot settings to only allow booting to the internal boot device.

Q: I use a Windows Operating System. Am I impacted?
A: Yes. Windows Operating Systems are impacted. A malicious actor that has physical access to the platform, or OS administrator privileges, could load a vulnerable GRUB UEFI binary and boot time malware.

Q: What do I need to do to address this vulnerability?
A: GRUB Patch - As part of Linux Operating System vendors’ advisories, they are expected to roll out updated GRUB binaries.

Affected Products

Product Security Information
Article Properties
Article Number: 000183697
Article Type: Security KB
Last Modified: 18 Sep 2025
Version:  4
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