CVE-2018-6261
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 GeForce Experience prior to 3.15 contains a vulnerability when GameStream is enabled which sets incorrect permissions on a file, which may to code execution, denial of service, or escalation of privileges by users with system access.
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 GeForce Experience before version 3.15 contains a file permission misconfiguration when GameStream is enabled, setting incorrect access controls on a system file that may allow a local user with system access to escalate privileges, execute arbitrary code, or 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 data< 3.15CVSS 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
- High
- Privileges
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:H/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.
-
Verify NVIDIA GeForce Experience is installedOpen Programs and Features (appwiz.cpl) or check C:\Program Files\NVIDIA Corporation\ for the GeForce Experience folderAffected if GeForce Experience is present on the system
-
Check the installed versionRight-click the GeForce Experience exe in Program Files, select Properties, then Details to view the File Version, or run: Get-ItemProperty 'C:\Program Files\NVIDIA Corporation\GeForce Experience\GeForceExperience.exe' | Select-Object VersionInfoAffected if The version number is lower than 3.15 (for example, 3.14.x or earlier)
-
Confirm GameStream is enabledOpen GeForce Experience settings and look for GameStream or Streaming options in the preferences, or check the config file at %PROGRAMDATA%\NVIDIA\GeForceExperience\CX_*.xml for GameStream related settingsAffected if GameStream/ShadowPlay streaming functionality is turned ON
-
Inspect file permissions on the affected system fileIdentify the specific system file used by GameStream (check NVIDIA logs or registry under HKLM\SOFTWARE\NVIDIA Corporation\Global\ShadowPlay for file paths), then right-click the file, go to Properties > Security > Advanced to view effective permissionsAffected if The file shows Everyone, Users, or low-privilege accounts have Write or Modify permissions when they should only have Read
-
Check for privilege escalation indicatorsReview permissions on critical system files in the NVIDIA program directory and compare against expected NTFS defaults using: icacls 'C:\Program Files\NVIDIA Corporation\*'Affected if Any NVIDIA-related files grant excessive permissions to standard users or Everyone group
The system is affected if GeForce Experience version is below 3.15 AND GameStream is enabled, resulting in overly permissive file access controls that could allow privilege escalation.
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 data3.15
Update NVIDIA GeForce Experience to version 3.15 or later to remediate the incorrect file permissions issue in GameStream.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation3.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,272.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2018-6261 — 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-2018-6261 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
Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.
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
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data