CVE-2017-0349
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 the NVIDIA Windows GPU Display Driver contain a vulnerability in the kernel mode layer (nvlddmkm.sys) handler for DxgkDdiEscape where a pointer passed from a user to the driver is not correctly validated before it is dereferenced for a write operation, 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 · high confidenceThis vulnerability exists in the NVIDIA Windows GPU Display Driver's kernel mode component (nvlddmkm.sys) in the DxgkDdiEscape handler. The driver fails to validate a user-supplied pointer before performing a write operation, allowing a local attacker to potentially write to arbitrary memory locations in kernel space, leading 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
- 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 driver is installedOpen Device Manager, expand 'Display adapters', and verify an NVIDIA GPU is listed. Alternatively, open Control Panel > Programs and Features and look for NVIDIA-related software.Affected if No NVIDIA GPU driver is found, the system is not affected.
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Locate the vulnerable driver fileNavigate to C:\Windows\System32\drivers\ and verify nvlddmkm.sys exists. This is the kernel mode driver component containing the vulnerable DxgkDdiEscape handler.Affected if The file nvlddmkm.sys does not exist on the system.
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Check the driver file versionRight-click nvlddmkm.sys in C:\Windows\System32\drivers\, select Properties, and view the File Version information. Alternatively, run 'driverquery /v | findstr nvlddmkm' from an elevated command prompt.Affected if The driver file version matches or falls within the range of affected versions (all versions prior to the security patch). Compare your version against NVIDIA's security advisory for this CVE.
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Verify the driver is loadedOpen an elevated command prompt and run 'sc query nvlddmkm' or check the Windows Event Viewer for driver load events. The driver must be actively running for the vulnerability to be exploitable.Affected if The nvlddmkm service is running or the driver is loaded in kernel memory.
A system is affected if it runs any version of the NVIDIA Windows GPU Display Driver containing nvlddmkm.sys prior to the security patch, with the driver loaded and active.
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 NVIDIA security update to patch the vulnerable display driver. In enterprise environments, test the patch for compatibility with GPU-dependent applications before broad deployment.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation8.0 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-2017-0349 — 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-2017-0349 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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- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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