CVE-2018-6252
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 handler for DxgkDdiEscape where the software allows an actor access to restricted functionality that is unnecessary to production usage, and which may result in denial of service.
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 vulnerability in the kernel mode layer handler for DxgkDdiEscape where the driver exposes restricted functionality that is unnecessary for production use, potentially allowing a low-privilege actor to cause denial of service.
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
- None
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/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 check for NVIDIA GPU entries. Alternatively, check the registry at HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\nvlddmkm for the 'ImagePath' value.Affected if An NVIDIA GPU display driver is present on the system
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Identify the installed driver versionRight-click the NVIDIA device in Device Manager, select Properties, go to the Driver tab, and note the Driver Version. Alternatively, run 'nvcc --version' if NVIDIA CUDA Toolkit is installed, or check the file version of nvlddmkm.sys in C:\Windows\System32\drivers\.Affected if Any version of the NVIDIA Windows GPU display driver is installed (all versions are affected)
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Confirm kernel mode driver is loadedOpen Command Prompt and run 'sc query nvlddmkm' or check the Windows Event Log for driver load events related to nvlddmkm.sys.Affected if The NVIDIA kernel mode driver (nvlddmkm.sys) is loaded and active
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Check low-privilege user access to driver interfacesExamine the security descriptor on the NVIDIA driver device object using tools like WinObj or check group policy settings under Computer Configuration > Windows Settings > Security Settings > Local Policies > User Rights Assignment for any restrictions on accessing device objects.Affected if Low-privilege users have direct access to the DxgkDdiEscape driver interface without additional restrictions
If an NVIDIA Windows GPU display driver is installed and its kernel mode driver is active with unrestricted or minimally restricted access to the DxgkDdiEscape interface, the system is potentially affected by this vulnerability.
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 addresses this vulnerability, or implement system policies to restrict access to the affected driver functionality.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing6.0 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 $3,808.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2018-6252 — 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-2018-6252 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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A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.
- 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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