CVE-2017-0315
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 · uneditedAll versions of NVIDIA Windows GPU Display Driver contain a vulnerability in the kernel mode layer (nvlddmkm.sys) handler for DxgkDdiEscape where an attempt to access an invalid object pointer may lead to denial of service or potential escalation of privileges.
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 · moderate confidenceA vulnerability exists in the NVIDIA Windows GPU display driver's kernel mode layer (nvlddmkm.sys) in the DxgkDdiEscape handler. The handler attempts to access an invalid object pointer, which can cause a denial of service (system crash/blue screen) or potentially enable privilege escalation to kernel-level privileges.
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 dataall versionsCVSS 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:3.0/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.
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Confirm NVIDIA GPU display driver is installedOpen Device Manager, expand 'Display adapters', and look for any NVIDIA GPU entry. Alternatively, check if the file nvlddmkm.sys exists in the Windows\System32\drivers\ directory.Affected if An NVIDIA GPU is listed in Device Manager or nvlddmkm.sys is present on the system.
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Identify the NVIDIA driver versionRight-click the NVIDIA GPU in Device Manager, select Properties, go to the Driver tab, and note the Driver Version. Alternatively, right-click nvlddmkm.sys in Windows\System32\drivers\, select Properties, and check the File Version on the Details tab.Affected if The driver version shown is any version of the NVIDIA Windows display driver, as all versions are affected according to the CVE.
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Verify the kernel-mode driver componentConfirm the file nvlddmkm.sys is the specific kernel-mode driver component involved. Check its presence and version using 'driverquery /v | findstr nvlddmkm' in Command Prompt.Affected if nvlddmkm.sys is present and loaded, indicating the vulnerable driver component is active.
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Check if GPU is actively in useOpen Task Manager, go to the Performance tab, and verify if the NVIDIA GPU is showing active utilization, or check if any GPU-accelerated applications are running.Affected if The NVIDIA GPU driver is actively running, meaning the DxgkDdiEscape handler code path could be triggered.
If an NVIDIA Windows GPU display driver is installed and the nvlddmkm.sys kernel-mode driver is present and running, the environment is affected since all versions are vulnerable until a patch is applied.
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 the NVIDIA Windows GPU display driver to a patched version provided by NVIDIA. In enterprise environments, test the driver update thoroughly for compatibility with GPU-dependent applications before broad deployment.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2017-0315 — 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-2017-0315 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
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- 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
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