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Gpu DriverApplication · Nvidia

CVE-2017-6251

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.0 Published 2017-07-28
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
80/100
Remediation priority · High
Zero-click

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 · unedited
NVIDIA Windows GPU Display Driver contains a vulnerability in the kernel mode layer handler where a missing permissions check may allow users to gain access to arbitrary physical system memory, which may lead to an 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 confidence

NVIDIA Windows GPU Display Driver contains a privilege escalation vulnerability in its kernel mode layer handler. The handler fails to perform proper permissions validation, allowing an unprivileged user to read/write arbitrary physical system memory by leveraging the display driver interface. This memory access primitive can be weaponized to elevate privileges to kernel level.

MitigationApply the NVIDIA security update that patches the kernel mode driver to include proper permission checks before granting memory access. Prioritize patching systems where untrusted users have local access.

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
Gpu DriverApplication
Affected:all versions

CVSS 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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Confirm Windows operating system
    Verify the system is running Windows (this vulnerability affects only Windows NVIDIA GPU drivers). Run 'systeminfo' or check OS via 'winver'.
    Affected if System is not Windows - the vulnerability does not apply to non-Windows systems
  2. Identify NVIDIA GPU display driver presence
    Check for NVIDIA GPU driver installation. Open Device Manager, expand 'Display adapters', or run 'wmic path win32_VideoController get name,driverversion' to list installed video drivers.
    Affected if No NVIDIA GPU driver is installed - the vulnerability only applies to systems with NVIDIA display drivers
  3. Retrieve installed NVIDIA driver version
    Run 'nvidia-smi' (if available) or check the driver version in Device Manager properties for the NVIDIA GPU. Record the full driver version string (e.g., 388.xx or 391.xx format).
    Affected if Driver version cannot be determined - without a version number, the patch status cannot be assessed
  4. Compare driver version to patch status
    Research the CVE-2017-6251 patch release date/version for NVIDIA drivers. NVIDIA issued patches starting around early 2017. Compare your installed version against the patched version for your driver branch.
    Affected if Driver version predates the security patch or no patch has been applied - all versions prior to the patched release are vulnerable
  5. Assess local user access exposure
    Check if untrusted or unprivileged users have local console or RDP access to the system. Run 'query user' or check 'Remote Desktop' settings and user group memberships.
    Affected if Untrusted unprivileged users have local access - exploitation requires an unprivileged user to be present on the system

A Windows system with an NVIDIA GPU display driver installed is affected if the driver version predates the CVE-2017-6251 security patch and untrusted local users can access the system.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

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 data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Apply the NVIDIA security update that patches the kernel mode driver to include proper permission checks before granting memory access. Prioritize patching systems where untrusted users have local access.

Fix this in Gpu Driver Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
11.0 hours of engineering $1,930
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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2017-6251 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

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.

What belongs here
  • 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