mce: [Hardware Error] emerg level entries in dmesg

[kmph]

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root@delldebian:~# dmesg --level=emerg
[    0.341027] mce: [Hardware Error]: CPU 0: Machine Check: 0 Bank 5: ae0000000040110a
[    0.341027] mce: [Hardware Error]: TSC 0 ADDR ffb070c0 MISC 38a0000086 
[    0.341027] mce: [Hardware Error]: PROCESSOR 0:40651 TIME 1581621039 SOCKET 0 APIC 0 microcode 25

Such messages are also shown during boot.

Where does this come from?

AFAIK level emerg is supposed to be reserved for conditions that make the system unusable. Interestingly though, the system seems to work fine - or at least I was able to successfully connect to the internet, issue apt install udisks2, mount a pendrive and save the above results to this pendrive. Also I had installed intel-microcode. (If the system will be able to perform more complex tasks we'll see later)

Additional info, if this is relevant:

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root@delldebian:~# dmesg | grep mce
[    0.341027] mce: [Hardware Error]: Machine check events logged
[    0.341027] mce: [Hardware Error]: CPU 0: Machine Check: 0 Bank 5: ae0000000040110a
[    0.341027] mce: [Hardware Error]: TSC 0 ADDR ffb070c0 MISC 38a0000086 
[    0.341027] mce: [Hardware Error]: PROCESSOR 0:40651 TIME 1581621039 SOCKET 0 APIC 0 microcode 25
[    1.799985] mce: Using 7 MCE banks

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root@delldebian:~# dmesg | grep microcode
[    0.000000] microcode: microcode updated early to revision 0x25, date = 2019-02-26
[    0.341027] mce: [Hardware Error]: PROCESSOR 0:40651 TIME 1581621039 SOCKET 0 APIC 0 microcode 25
[    1.800050] microcode: sig=0x40651, pf=0x40, revision=0x25
[    1.800133] microcode: Microcode Update Driver: v2.2.

What is going on here and how to fix it?

EDIT: Conforming to the requirement to STFW before posting: Googling revealed two somewhat similar threads:

• https://forum.manjaro.org/t/hardware-er ... boot/70200 - but the 'solution' posted there is, IIUC, to shut down the alarms without diagnosing or eliminating their cause Is it really the correct course of action?
• https://software.intel.com/en-us/forums ... pic/779705 - this might be enlightening - if the issue is indeed similar than this is a bug in BIOS? Then I'm screwed because I cannot fiddle with BIOS settings sadly (Set a password a few years ago and forgot the password promptly) Maybe a BIOS update is available but how do I flash BIOS without Windows. Though this is likely to be a different issue because error codes do not match.

[Dai_trying]

If you have a hardware error there is very little that can be advised to you without providing the hardware information, (I use inxi -Fxx to get as much information as is available).

[Head_on_a_Stick]

Use the rasdaemon package to analyse the failure, see the relevant man pages for more detail.

To reset the firmware ("BIOS") password try removing the battery pack and motherboard CMOS battery for a minute or so. My ThinkPad's firmware can be updated using the ISO image provided by Lenovo, no Windows required. Otherwise perhaps try FreeDOS to run .exe files.