CVE-2016-2556
Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.
NVD · uneditedThe Escape interface in the Kernel Mode Driver layer in the NVIDIA GPU graphics driver R340 before 341.95 and R352 before 354.74 on Windows improperly allows access to restricted functionality, which allows local users to gain privileges via unspecified vectors.
Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.
dbcve analysis · high confidenceA privilege escalation vulnerability exists in the NVIDIA GPU kernel-mode driver for Windows. The Escape interface in the driver improperly exposes restricted functionality to local users, allowing an unprivileged local attacker to gain elevated system privileges by exploiting the escape mechanism used for driver communication.
Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.
Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.
NVD · CPE data<= 431.61<= 353.82CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.
From the vector- Attack vector
- Local
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.
dbcve checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
-
Identify NVIDIA GPU driver version via Device ManagerOpen Device Manager, expand Display adapters, right-click the NVIDIA GPU, select Properties, go to the Driver tab, and note the Driver Version field. This shows the full version string including the driver branch and build number.Affected if The displayed driver version falls within the R340 series at build 431.61 or lower, or the R352 series at build 353.82 or lower.
-
Verify driver version via nvidia-smi commandOpen Command Prompt or PowerShell and run 'nvidia-smi' or 'nvidia-smi --query-gpu=driver_version --format=csv,noheader'. This command-line tool displays the exact driver version installed.Affected if The reported driver version is 431.61 or earlier for R340 branch, or 353.82 or earlier for R352 branch.
-
Check driver version via Windows RegistryOpen Registry Editor and navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\nvlddmkm\. Examine the DriverVersion value in the right pane. This registry key stores the NVIDIA driver version number.Affected if The registry DriverVersion value is 431.61 or lower (R340 branch) or 353.82 or lower (R352 branch).
A system is affected if it runs any NVIDIA GPU driver from the R340 series at version 431.61 or below, or the R352 series at version 353.82 or below, as these versions contain the vulnerable Escape interface that allows privilege escalation.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.
From vendor dataUpdate NVIDIA graphics drivers to version R341.95 or later for the R340 branch, and version R354.74 or later for the R352 branch. Apply the appropriate driver update through enterprise software distribution or NVIDIA's official channels.
- Consultation1.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,904.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2016-2556 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2016-2556 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.
A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.
- Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
- No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data