CVE-2017-6252
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 · uneditedNVIDIA Windows GPU Display Driver contains a vulnerability in the kernel mode layer handler where a NULL pointer dereference may lead to a 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 confidenceA NULL pointer dereference vulnerability exists in the kernel mode layer handler of NVIDIA's Windows GPU Display Driver. This can be exploited to cause a denial of service or potentially escalate privileges to kernel level.
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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Identify NVIDIA GPU hardware in the systemOpen Device Manager, expand 'Display adapters', and check if an NVIDIA GPU is listedAffected if An NVIDIA GPU is present in the system
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Check NVIDIA driver version via Control PanelOpen NVIDIA Control Panel, click 'System Information' in the bottom-left corner, and note the Driver Version fieldAffected if A driver version is displayed (indicating NVIDIA driver is installed)
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Verify NVIDIA kernel-mode driver is loadedOpen Command Prompt and run: sc query nvlddmkm. Check if the service state is RUNNINGAffected if The nvlddmkm service exists and is running
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Confirm driver is Windows kernel-modeCheck if the driver file nvlddmkm.sys exists in C:\Windows\System32\Drivers\Affected if The kernel-mode driver file is present on a Windows system
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Check driver is unpatched for this CVESince affected versions are 'all versions', any NVIDIA Windows driver without the CVE-2017-6252 security patch is vulnerable. Compare your driver version against NVIDIA's security bulletin for this CVEAffected if The installed driver version predates the CVE-2017-6252 patch release date
A system is affected if it runs any NVIDIA Windows GPU display driver on hardware with an NVIDIA GPU, unless the driver has been updated to include the CVE-2017-6252 patch.
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 GPU display driver to a patched version. Given the kernel-mode nature and privilege escalation potential, priority patching across all affected Windows workstations and servers is recommended.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation3.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2017-6252 — 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-2017-6252 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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