CVE-2017-0321
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 GPU Display Driver contain a vulnerability in the kernel mode layer handler where a NULL pointer dereference caused by invalid user input 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 confidenceNVIDIA GPU Display Driver contains a NULL pointer dereference vulnerability in the kernel mode layer handler. The issue stems from insufficient validation of user input before dereferencing a pointer, which can be triggered by invalid input to lead to denial of service or privilege escalation.
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
- Changed
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/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 driver is installedRun 'nvidia-smi' or check '/proc/driver/nvidia/version' to see if the NVIDIA driver is present on the systemAffected if The command returns no output or the driver file does not exist, meaning the driver is not installed and the system is not affected
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Identify the installed driver versionRun 'nvidia-smi' and look for the 'Driver Version' field, or run 'cat /proc/driver/nvidia/version'Affected if Any version returned by these commands indicates the driver is installed and potentially affected since all versions are in scope per the CVE
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Verify NVIDIA kernel mode layer is activeRun 'lsmod | grep nvidia' to list loaded NVIDIA kernel modules, particularly looking for 'nvidia_modeset' or 'nvidia_uvm' which represent the kernel mode layer componentsAffected if Kernel mode layer modules are loaded, meaning the vulnerable code path is active in kernel space
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Check for the kernel mode layer handler in useExamine /sys/module/nvidia*/parameters/ (if accessible) or check dmesg for NVIDIA driver initialization messages showing kernel mode layer initializationAffected if The kernel mode layer handler is initialized and active, which is required for the NULL pointer dereference to occur
If the NVIDIA GPU driver is installed and the kernel mode layer is active (kernel modules loaded), the system is affected since all driver versions are in scope for this CVE.
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 dataApply the vendor-supplied patch or update to the NVIDIA GPU Display Driver to a version that addresses the NULL pointer dereference in the kernel mode layer handler.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $6,176.
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2017-0321 — 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-2017-0321 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
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