External risk intelligence

Acer Altos Firmware Stack Overflow Denial of Service

CVE advisorySeverity: CRITICAL (CVSS 9.8)

CVE-2022-41415

The vulnerability exists within the firmware of a server hardware component (NVRAM variable management). Such low-level hardware interfaces and server firmware management functions are typically isolated and not exposed to the public internet in standard deployment patterns.

Out-of-bounds Write

Acer Altos W2000h W570h F4 Firmware

r01.03.0018

Halo Surface Signal: 1 out of 5 — much less likely to be public-facing.

External exposure likelihood

Horizon Alert

Summary of the vulnerability and why it matters

A critical vulnerability has been identified in Acer server firmware, specifically in the RevserveMem component. This issue could potentially allow an attacker to disrupt service by manipulating system memory. The main concern is to confirm if this specific firmware is in use within our environment.

Firmware flaw could disrupt server operations.
Understand exposure and confirm relevance.
Verify if specific firmware is deployed.

Attack Path

How an attacker could exploit the issue

Attackers can reach the vulnerable RevserveMem component through the network without any authentication or user interaction. By sending specially crafted data, they can overflow a buffer in the system's non-volatile RAM (NVRAM) variable. This overflow could allow them to execute arbitrary code, leading to a denial of service and potentially compromising the system.

No authentication or user interaction needed.
Crafted shellcode injected into NVRAM.
Denial of service and code execution.

Live Threat

Current exploitation, exposure, and threat context

A stack overflow in the RevserveMem component could allow an attacker to cause a Denial of Service by injecting crafted shellcode into NVRAM variables. This could affect the availability of the affected Acer Altos server hardware.

Server firmware availability.
Crafted shellcode injection into NVRAM.
Denial of Service may occur.

Operational Fix

Recommended remediation, mitigation, and detection steps

The Acer Altos W2000h-W570h F4 firmware's RevserveMem component is vulnerable to a stack overflow, which could allow unauthenticated attackers to achieve Denial of Service by injecting crafted shellcode into NVRAM variables. System owners and infrastructure teams should prioritize identifying all instances of this firmware, assessing their network exposure and criticality, and confirming the accountable owner for remediation. Planning for updates or other risk-mitigation strategies should follow this initial assessment.

Firmware owners should be identified.
Verify network exposure and criticality.
Plan remediation based on identified risk.

Supplementary metadata

CVSS vector

Validate whether this threat affects your internet-facing exposure.

Halo Threat Intelligence helps prioritize remediation with Halo Surface Signal and H/A/L/O context. Start exposure validation with a free external attack surface trial.

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Frequently asked questions

What is the Acer Altos W2000h-W570h F4 system?

The Acer Altos W2000h-W570h F4 is a line of enterprise-grade server hardware. The specific firmware version R01.03.0018 includes a low-level component called RevserveMem, which is responsible for managing system memory and non-volatile RAM (NVRAM) configurations during server operations.

What does it mean that CVE-2022-41415 is a stack overflow?

This vulnerability is classified as CWE-787, or Out-of-bounds Write. It occurs when the RevserveMem component fails to properly check the size of data written into the system's NVRAM. Because this happens in the memory stack, the software can become overwhelmed, allowing an attacker to inject unauthorized instructions that crash the service or disrupt normal hardware functions.

How is this firmware vulnerability triggered?

An attacker triggers this by sending specially crafted shellcode over the network to the server. The bug specifically targets the NVRAM variable management process. It is important to note that simply accessing the server for routine management tasks or standard data requests does not trigger the vulnerability; it requires a malicious, specifically malformed data packet intended to exploit the memory overflow.

Is my server at risk from this vulnerability?

According to Halo Surface Signal, the risk is considered very unlikely for most environments. This is because the vulnerability resides in deep, low-level firmware interfaces rather than the applications users typically interact with. These hardware management functions are generally designed to be isolated from the public internet, meaning they should not be directly reachable by external attackers.

Do I need to update my server immediately?

Your first step should be to confirm if you are running the specific Acer Altos firmware version R01.03.0018 in your environment. Once you have identified any affected hardware, prioritize checking that these systems are not exposed to the public internet. Coordinate with your infrastructure team to plan for firmware updates or other risk-mitigation measures based on the system's criticality.

References

Written by Nicholas Merritt

Nicholas Merritt is VP of Security Solutions at Halo Security. With more than 25 years across application security, vulnerability prioritization, and offensive security, he helps teams translate threat data into practical exposure validation and remediation focus. He authors Halo Threat Intelligence CVE advisories using Halo Surface Signal and H/A/L/O context to prioritize internet-facing risk.