CVE-2018-6242
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 · uneditedSome NVIDIA Tegra mobile processors released prior to 2016 contain a buffer overflow vulnerability in BootROM Recovery Mode (RCM). An attacker with physical access to the device's USB and the ability to force the device to reboot into RCM could exploit the vulnerability to execute unverified code.
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 confidenceA buffer overflow vulnerability exists in the BootROM Recovery Mode (RCM) of NVIDIA Tegra mobile processors released prior to 2016. An attacker with physical access to the device's USB port and the ability to force the device into RCM can exploit the overflow to execute unverified code at the boot ROM 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
- Physical
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:P/AC:L/PR:N/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 the Tegra processor modelLocate the device's technical specifications or use system information tools to identify the exact NVIDIA Tegra processor variant (e.g., Tegra 3, Tegra 4, Tegra K1, Tegra X1)Affected if The processor is an NVIDIA Tegra chip released prior to 2016 (such as Tegra 3, 4, or early Tegra K1 variants)
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Determine the processor release yearCross-reference the identified Tegra model with its launch date from NVIDIA's product documentation or public release historyAffected if The processor was released before 2016 (the vulnerability affects devices released prior to 2016)
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Verify RCM mode accessibilityCheck if the device supports BootROM Recovery Mode by reviewing the device's hardware documentation or testing the RCM entry procedure (typically involves holding a specific button combination while connecting USB)Affected if RCM mode can be entered on the device through USB connection and button sequence
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Assess USB port physical exposureInspect the device's physical environment to determine if USB ports are accessible to unauthorized individualsAffected if USB ports are physically accessible without restricted access controls
The device is affected if it contains an NVIDIA Tegra processor released prior to 2016, supports RCM mode via USB, and the USB ports are physically accessible to potential attackers.
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 dataThis is a hardware-level BootROM vulnerability that cannot be patched via software updates on affected devices. Mitigation relies on physical security controls: restricting access to USB ports, preventing unauthorized physical access, and blocking mechanisms to force RCM boot.
- Consultation8.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2018-6242 — 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-2018-6242 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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