dbcve.org
Gpu DriverApplication · Nvidia

CVE-2017-6259

MEDIUM · 6.1 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 →
68/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable No privileges

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 GPU Display Driver contains a vulnerability in the kernel mode layer handler where an incorrect detection and recovery from an invalid state produced by specific user actions may lead to denial of service.

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 confidence

This is a denial-of-service vulnerability in NVIDIA's GPU display driver kernel-mode layer handler. The driver fails to properly detect and recover from an invalid state triggered by specific user actions, causing the system to become unresponsive or crash.

MitigationApply the NVIDIA GPU driver update/patch released to address this vulnerability. In enterprise environments, deploy the updated driver through standard patch management processes after compatibility testing.

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
Network
Complexity
High
Privileges
None
User interaction
Required
Scope
Changed
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:N/I:N/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. Identify NVIDIA GPU driver installation
    Open Device Manager, expand 'Display adapters', and look for any NVIDIA GPU entry (e.g., NVIDIA GeForce, Quadro, Tesla series). Alternatively, run 'nvidia-smi' from command line if installed.
    Affected if No NVIDIA GPU is listed in Device Manager or nvidia-smi is not available - the system is not affected because the vulnerable driver is not installed.
  2. Retrieve installed driver version
    In Device Manager, right-click the NVIDIA GPU, select Properties, go to the Driver tab, and note the Driver Version string. Or run 'nvidia-smi' which displays Driver Version in the output header.
    Affected if A driver version is displayed - proceed to next check. If the driver version field is empty or shows as 'Not available', the vulnerable component may not be active.
  3. Confirm kernel-mode driver component is loaded
    Open Windows Task Manager, go to the Services tab, and look for services containing 'nv' or 'NVIDIA' (e.g., nvvad, nvidia-wmi). Alternatively, check that the GPU is actively listed under 'Display adapters' with an enabled status.
    Affected if The NVIDIA GPU shows as enabled with a driver loaded - the kernel-mode handler component is active and the vulnerability is potentially present.
  4. Verify driver has not been patched for this CVE
    Cross-reference the installed driver version number (from step 2) against NVIDIA's security bulletin. CVE-2017-6259 was addressed in drivers released after January 2017. The exact patched version varies by product line but generally includes versions like 378.66, 376.84, and later.
    Affected if The installed driver version predates the patched releases (roughly pre-378.xx for GeForce consumer cards) - the system is likely vulnerable to this DoS flaw.

A system is affected if it has an NVIDIA GPU with a kernel-mode display driver installed that has not been updated to include the CVE-2017-6259 patch (generally drivers post-January 2017).

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 GPU driver update/patch released to address this vulnerability. In enterprise environments, deploy the updated driver through standard patch management processes after compatibility testing.

Fix this in Gpu Driver Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation3.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
10.0 hours of engineering $1,750
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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-2017-6259 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
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