CVE-2020-0544
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 · uneditedInsufficient control flow management in the kernel mode driver for some Intel(R) Graphics Drivers before version 15.36.39.5145 may allow an authenticated user to potentially enable escalation of privilege via local 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 · high confidenceInsufficient control flow management in the kernel mode driver for Intel(R) Graphics Drivers before version 15.36.39.5145 allows a local authenticated user to potentially escalate privileges via local access.
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< 15.36.39.5145CVSS 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:3.1/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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Verify Intel Graphics Drivers are installedOpen Device Manager, expand 'Display adapters', and look for Intel graphics devices (e.g., Intel UHD Graphics, Iris Xe, etc.)Affected if No Intel graphics device is listed in Device Manager, meaning the driver is not present and the system is not affected by this specific vulnerability.
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Identify the installed Intel Graphics Driver versionRight-click the Intel graphics device in Device Manager, select 'Properties', go to the 'Driver' tab, and note the Driver Version fieldAffected if The driver version shown is lower than 15.36.39.5145 (for example, 15.36.30.5144 or earlier). Compare the full version string numerically.
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Confirm the kernel mode driver component existsCheck for the presence of Intel graphics kernel-mode driver files (typically igx*.sys files in C:\Windows\System32\drivers\)Affected if The vulnerable kernel mode driver component is present on the system, which is required for this privilege escalation to be exploitable.
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Verify local authenticated access to the systemConfirm the user checking this CVE has local console or remote desktop access to the affected machineAffected if An attacker requires local authenticated access to the system to exploit this insufficient control flow vulnerability in the kernel mode driver.
A system is affected by CVE-2020-0544 if it has Intel Graphics Drivers installed with a version lower than 15.36.39.5145 and the kernel mode driver component is present and accessible to a local authenticated user.
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 data15.36.39.5145
Update Intel Graphics Drivers to version 15.36.39.5145 or later across all affected endpoints using standard enterprise patch management processes.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation6.0 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 $4,544.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-0544 — 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-2020-0544 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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