CVE-2019-5679
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 Shield TV Experience prior to v8.0, NVIDIA Tegra bootloader contains a vulnerability in nvtboot where the Trusted OS image is improperly authenticated, which may lead to code execution, denial of service, escalation of privileges, and information disclosure, code execution, denial of service, or 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 · high confidenceThis is a bootloader vulnerability in NVIDIA Tegra processors (used in Shield TV devices). The nvtboot component fails to properly authenticate the Trusted OS image before execution, allowing a privileged attacker to potentially execute arbitrary code, cause denial of service, escalate privileges, or disclose sensitive information.
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< 8.0CVSS 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.
-
Identify NVIDIA Shield TV deviceConfirm the device is an NVIDIA Shield TV (model numbers SHIELD, SHIELD Pro, or SHIELD Tablet) which uses NVIDIA Tegra processorsAffected if Device is not a NVIDIA Shield TV or non-Tegra device - this CVE does not apply
-
Check Shield Experience versionNavigate to Settings > About > Shield Experience Version on the device, or use ADB command: adb shell getprop ro.build.version.fullAffected if The displayed version is below 8.0 (e.g., 7.x, 6.x, etc.)
-
Verify nvtboot bootloader componentThis requires reading the bootloader version via device firmware inspection or manufacturer documentation - the vulnerability exists in nvtboot if running an unpatched bootloaderAffected if Bootloader was released before the v8.0 patch (this is implicit if Experience version is < 8.0)
A user is affected if they are running an NVIDIA Shield TV device with Shield Experience version lower than 8.0, as this indicates the vulnerable nvtboot bootloader that lacks proper Trusted OS image authentication.
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 data8.0
Update NVIDIA Shield TV Experience to v8.0 or later, which contains the patched bootloader with proper Trusted OS image authentication.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing3.0 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 $2,832.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2019-5679 — 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-2019-5679 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