CVE-2018-6250
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 NULL pointer dereference occurs 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 · moderate confidenceNVIDIA Windows GPU Display Driver contains a NULL pointer dereference vulnerability in the kernel mode layer (nvlddmkm.sys) handler for DxgkDniEscape. This kernel-level flaw in the display driver could allow a local attacker to cause a denial of service or potentially escalate privileges.
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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Confirm Windows environmentVerify the system is running Windows. The vulnerable driver component nvlddmkm.sys is Windows-specific and only affects Windows GPU drivers.Affected if System is not Windows - this CVE does not apply to other operating systems
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Check for NVIDIA GPU driverOpen Device Manager, expand Display adapters, or run 'driverquery /v' to confirm an NVIDIA GPU driver is installed. Look for nvlddmkm.sys in C:\Windows\System32\drivers\Affected if No NVIDIA GPU driver is present - the system is not affected by this specific vulnerability
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Identify installed driver versionIn Device Manager, right-click the NVIDIA GPU, select Properties, go to the Driver tab, and note the Driver Version. Alternatively, right-click nvlddmkm.sys in System32\drivers, select Properties, and check the File Version.Affected if Cannot determine the driver version - version information is required to assess exposure
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Compare to patched versionLook up the CVE-2018-6250 patch information in the official NVIDIA Security Bulletin. Compare your identified driver version against the version number listed as patched in the NVIDIA security advisory.Affected if Driver version is older than the patched version specified in the NVIDIA security update for this CVE
The system is affected if it runs Windows with an NVIDIA GPU driver installed whose version is lower than the version patched for CVE-2018-6250 in the NVIDIA security bulletin.
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 that patches this vulnerability to the display driver. Ensure compatibility testing is performed after driver update, particularly in enterprise environments with specific GPU requirements.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation3.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2018-6250 — 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-2018-6250 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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