CVE-2019-5676
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 software for Windows (all versions) contains a vulnerability in which it incorrectly loads Windows system DLLs without validating the path or signature (also known as a binary planting or DLL preloading attack), leading to escalation of privileges through 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 · moderate confidenceThe NVIDIA Windows GPU Display Driver incorrectly loads Windows system DLLs without validating the path or signature, allowing a DLL preloading attack where a malicious DLL could be loaded instead, leading to privilege escalation through arbitrary 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 data>= 410, < 412.36>= 418, < 425.51>= 430, < 430.64< 3.19CVSS 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
- High
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/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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Check NVIDIA GPU driver versionOpen Device Manager, expand 'Display adapters', right-click the NVIDIA GPU, select Properties, go to the Driver tab. Alternatively, run 'nvidia-smi' from command line or check 'C:\Windows\System32\nvvad\nvvad64v.sys' file properties for version info.Affected if The displayed driver version falls within these ranges: 410 to 412.35, 418 to 425.50, or 430 to 430.63 (any version below 412.36, 425.51, or 430.64 respectively).
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Check Geforce Experience versionOpen Control Panel > Programs and Features, find 'GeForce Experience' and note the version number. Alternatively, launch the application and check About/Version info.Affected if Geforce Experience version is earlier than 3.19.
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Confirm NVIDIA driver is actively loadedOpen Services (services.msc) and check if 'NVIDIA Display Container LS' or 'NVIDIA LocalSystem Container' services are running. Or run 'driverquery | findstr nv' in command prompt to list loaded NVIDIA drivers.Affected if NVIDIA driver components are currently running on the system - the vulnerability only applies when the driver is loaded.
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Check for writable directories in DLL search pathReview the NVIDIA driver installation directory (typically C:\Windows\System32\nvvad\ or C:\Program Files\NVIDIA Corporation\). Check if any subdirectories or the driver folder itself allow non-admin users to write files.Affected if A non-privileged user can place a malicious DLL in a location the NVIDIA driver searches for DLLs, enabling the preloading attack.
Your system is affected if the NVIDIA GPU driver version is below 412.36, 425.51, or 430.64 (within the 410.x, 418.x, or 430.x branches) OR Geforce Experience is below 3.19, AND the NVIDIA driver is currently loaded on the system.
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 data3.19412.36425.51
Update the NVIDIA display driver to a version that validates DLL paths before loading; verify that only signed DLLs from trusted paths are loaded by the driver.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2019-5676 — 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-2019-5676 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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