# Most Servers on the Planet Are Vulnerable to This Firmware Code-Execution Flaw

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/most-servers-on-the-planet-are-vulnerable-to-this-firmware-code-execution-flaw/
- Published: 2026-10-28T20:30:00+00:00
- Updated: 2026-10-29T05:09:52+00:00
- Original publisher: Wired
- Original article: https://www.wired.com/story/most-servers-on-the-planet-are-vulnerable-to-a-code-execution-flaw-in-uefi-firmware/
- Topics: Software

## Key points

- A 16-year-old flaw affects widely used UEFI boot code.
- Attackers on a local network could exploit oversized ICMP messages.
- Firmware patching across devices may take time.

## Summary

A newly disclosed flaw in widely used UEFI firmware code could let attackers run code during a device’s boot process, before protections such as Secure Boot take effect. Its reach matters because the vulnerable code is used across hardware and cloud systems, while firmware updates can be slow and difficult to deploy.

Tracked as CVE-2026-97631 and rated 9.5 out of 10, the 16-year-old buffer overflow is in EDK II’s PXE network-boot driver. An attacker with access to a local network could send an oversized ICMP error message, exceeding a 504-byte buffer and corrupting memory. The immediate payload runs only once, but could help install further boot-level malware; the flaw was disclosed ahead of a planned coordinated announcement after a vendor published patch details.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.