CVE-2017-6269
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 (nvlddmkm.sys) handler for DxgkDdiEscape where a pointer passed from a user to the driver is used without validation which may lead to denial of service or possible 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 confidenceThe NVIDIA Windows GPU Display Driver contains a vulnerability in the kernel-mode layer (nvlddmkm.sys) in its DxgkDdiEscape handler. A pointer passed from user mode to the driver is used without validation, allowing a local attacker to potentially cause a denial of service or 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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Verify NVIDIA GPU driver is installedOpen Device Manager, expand 'Display adapters', and look for NVIDIA GPU entry. Or run 'driverquery /v | findstr nvlddmkm' in Command Prompt.Affected if NVIDIA GPU driver is present on the system
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Check the nvlddmkm.sys driver versionRight-click the NVIDIA device in Device Manager, select Properties, go to Driver tab, and note the Driver Version. Alternatively, navigate to C:\Windows\System32\Drivers\nvlddmkm.sys (or the driver folder in Program Files\NVIDIA Corporation), right-click the file, and check Properties > Details for File Version.Affected if nvlddmkm.sys driver is found on the system, regardless of version since all versions are affected
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Confirm the kernel-mode driver is loadedOpen Command Prompt as Administrator and run 'sc query nvlddmkm' or check the Windows Event Viewer under Windows Logs > System for nvlddmkm driver entries.Affected if The nvlddmkm driver service exists and is or was loaded
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Verify Windows operating systemConfirm the system is running a Windows OS by running 'winver' or checking System Properties. The vulnerability specifically affects the Windows kernel-mode driver.Affected if System is running Windows with NVIDIA drivers installed
A user is affected if the NVIDIA Windows GPU Display Driver (nvlddmkm.sys) is installed and running, since all versions of this driver are vulnerable to the unvalidated pointer flaw in DxgkDdiEscape.
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 or updated display driver from the vendor. As a compensating control, limit local system access to trusted users only until the patch can be deployed.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2017-6269 — 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-2017-6269 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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