<description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;span class="TextRun SCXW32996543 BCX0" lang="EN-US" xml:lang= "EN-US" data-contrast="auto"&gt;&lt;span class= "NormalTextRun SCXW32996543 BCX0"&gt;As recently as December 2025, the&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span class="NormalTextRun SCXW32996543 BCX0"&gt;Carnegie Mellon University Software Engineering Institute (SEI's) &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class= "NormalTextRun SCXW32996543 BCX0"&gt;CERT Coordination Center (CERT/CC) documented a UEFI-related vulnerability in certain motherboard models, illustrating that early-boot firmware behavior continues to present security challenges despite requiring local physical access to exploit. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class= "NormalTextRun SCXW32996543 BCX0"&gt;While CERT/CC reported seven UEFI vulnerabilities in 2025, that number &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class= "NormalTextRun SCXW32996543 BCX0"&gt;remains&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class= "NormalTextRun SCXW32996543 BCX0"&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class= "NormalTextRun SCXW32996543 BCX0"&gt;small&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class= "NormalTextRun SCXW32996543 BCX0"&gt; compared&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class= "NormalTextRun SCXW32996543 BCX0"&gt; to reported vulnerabilities in other software&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class= "NormalTextRun SCXW32996543 BCX0"&gt;. However, the&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class= "NormalTextRun SCXW32996543 BCX0"&gt; consequences of a potential UEFI attack are often more serious given the extremely high privileges UEFI firmware &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class= "NormalTextRun SCXW32996543 BCX0"&gt;possesses&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class= "NormalTextRun SCXW32996543 BCX0"&gt;. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class= "NormalTextRun SCXW32996543 BCX0"&gt;In our latest SEI Podcast, Vijay Sarvepalli, a s&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class= "NormalTextRun SCXW32996543 BCX0"&gt;enior &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class= "NormalTextRun SCXW32996543 BCX0"&gt;i&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class= "NormalTextRun SCXW32996543 BCX0"&gt;nformation &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="NormalTextRun SCXW32996543 BCX0"&gt;s&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="NormalTextRun SCXW32996543 BCX0"&gt;ecurity &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="NormalTextRun SCXW32996543 BCX0"&gt;a&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="NormalTextRun SCXW32996543 BCX0"&gt;rchitect specializing in &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class= "NormalTextRun SCXW32996543 BCX0"&gt;v&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class= "NormalTextRun SCXW32996543 BCX0"&gt;ulnerability and &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class= "NormalTextRun SCXW32996543 BCX0"&gt;t&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class= "NormalTextRun SCXW32996543 BCX0"&gt;hreat &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class= "NormalTextRun SCXW32996543 BCX0"&gt;a&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class= "NormalTextRun SCXW32996543 BCX0"&gt;nalysi&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class= "NormalTextRun SCXW32996543 BCX0"&gt;s in CERT, sits down with Michael Winter, deputy technical director of threat analysis in CERT, to discuss research and mitigation of UEFI vulnerabilities and discuss a new tool, the CERT UEFI parser, an &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class= "NormalTextRun SCXW32996543 BCX0"&gt;open source tool that uses program analysis to reveal the architecture of UEFI software, and explore this veiled source of vulnerabilities.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="EOP SCXW32996543 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}"&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</description>

Software Engineering Institute (SEI) Podcast Series

Members of Technical Staff at the Software Engineering Institute

Goal-Line Defense: A Tool to Discover and Mitigate UEFI Vulnerabilities

APR 15, 202641 MIN
Software Engineering Institute (SEI) Podcast Series

Goal-Line Defense: A Tool to Discover and Mitigate UEFI Vulnerabilities

APR 15, 202641 MIN

Description

As recently as December 2025, the Carnegie Mellon University Software Engineering Institute (SEI's) CERT Coordination Center (CERT/CC) documented a UEFI-related vulnerability in certain motherboard models, illustrating that early-boot firmware behavior continues to present security challenges despite requiring local physical access to exploit. While CERT/CC reported seven UEFI vulnerabilities in 2025, that number remains small compared to reported vulnerabilities in other software. However, the consequences of a potential UEFI attack are often more serious given the extremely high privileges UEFI firmware possesses. In our latest SEI Podcast, Vijay Sarvepalli, a senior information security architect specializing in vulnerability and threat analysis in CERT, sits down with Michael Winter, deputy technical director of threat analysis in CERT, to discuss research and mitigation of UEFI vulnerabilities and discuss a new tool, the CERT UEFI parser, an open source tool that uses program analysis to reveal the architecture of UEFI software, and explore this veiled source of vulnerabilities.