CVE-2018-6251
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 DirectX 10 Usermode driver, where a specially crafted pixel shader can cause writing to unallocated memory, leading to denial of service or potential code execution.
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 confidenceA vulnerability in the NVIDIA Windows GPU Display Driver's DirectX 10 usermode driver allows a specially crafted pixel shader to write to unallocated memory, potentially leading to denial of service or code execution.
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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Identify NVIDIA GPU hardwareOpen Device Manager (devmgmt.msc), expand 'Display adapters', and look for any NVIDIA GPU (e.g., GeForce, Quadro, Tesla series) listed. Alternatively, run 'dxdiag' and check the 'Display' tab for NVIDIA devices.Affected if An NVIDIA GPU is present in the system.
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Check NVIDIA driver installationIn Device Manager under 'Display adapters', right-click the NVIDIA GPU, select 'Properties', and go to the 'Driver' tab. Note the driver version displayed (e.g., 391.xx, 425.xx).Affected if A driver version is displayed, confirming the NVIDIA Windows GPU driver is installed.
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Verify DirectX 10 usermode driver componentOpen 'dxdiag', go to the 'Display' tab, and under 'Drivers' check the 'Driver Model' field. If it shows 'WDDM 1.0' or later with DirectX 10/11/12 support, the affected usermode driver component is present.Affected if DirectX 10 or later is supported and enabled on the NVIDIA GPU.
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Confirm vulnerability applicabilityReview the installed driver version against NVIDIA's security bulletin. The CVE states all driver versions are affected. Cross-reference the driver version shown in Device Manager with any official fixed versions if released.Affected if The installed driver version is any version (since all versions are affected per the CVE) and DirectX 10 usermode driver is in use.
If an NVIDIA GPU with the Windows display driver is installed and DirectX 10 usermode driver is active, the environment is affected since all versions of the driver are vulnerable.
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 dataUpdate the NVIDIA GPU display driver to a version that includes the security fix for this vulnerability.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,328.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2018-6251 — 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-2018-6251 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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