CVE-2018-6249
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 GPU Display Driver contains a vulnerability in kernel mode layer handler where a NULL pointer dereference may lead to 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 confidenceNVIDIA GPU Display Driver contains a NULL pointer dereference vulnerability in the kernel mode layer handler. This flaw may allow local attackers to cause a denial of service or potentially escalate privileges by triggering the NULL pointer dereference in the kernel-mode component of the display driver.
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
- Changed
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/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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Check if NVIDIA GPU driver is installedOn Windows, open Device Manager and expand 'Display adapters' or run 'nvidia-smi' from command line. On Linux, run 'nvidia-smi' or 'lsmod | grep nvidia'.Affected if No NVIDIA GPU driver is found, the system is not affected by this specific vulnerability.
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Identify installed driver versionRun 'nvidia-smi' and look for 'Driver Version' in the output, or check Windows Registry at HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\nvlddmkm\DriverVersion.Affected if The installed version is below 378.92 (Windows) or equivalent unpatched version, indicating the vulnerability is present.
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Verify kernel mode driver is loadedOn Windows, check that the 'nvlddmkm' service is running (sc query nvlddmkm). On Linux, verify nvidia kernel modules are loaded via 'lsmod | grep nvidia'.Affected if The kernel mode driver (nvlddmkm on Windows, nvidia kernel modules on Linux) is loaded and running, making the NULL pointer dereference exploitable.
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Assess user access to GPU resourcesReview which users or groups have access to the GPU device files (Linux: /dev/nvidia*) or verify unprivileged user ability to interact with the display driver.Affected if Unprivileged users can access GPU resources, allowing local exploitation of the kernel mode handler flaw.
The system is affected if an NVIDIA GPU driver is installed with a version prior to 378.92 (or unpatched) and the kernel mode driver is active, particularly when unprivileged users have GPU access.
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 GPU Display Driver security update (version 378.92 or later for Windows, or equivalent vendor patch) to all affected systems. Prioritize systems where unprivileged users have access to GPU resources.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2018-6249 — 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-2018-6249 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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