Radeon SoftwareApplication · Amd

CVE-2020-12903

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2021-11-15
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 20.11.2 or later.
See remediation →
80/100
Remediation priority · High
Zero-click

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 · unedited
Out of Bounds Write and Read in AMD Graphics Driver for Windows 10 in Escape 0x6002d03 may lead to escalation of privilege or 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 confidence

Out-of-bounds write and read vulnerability in AMD Graphics Driver for Windows 10, specifically in Escape function 0x6002d03. This kernel-mode driver flaw allows a local attacker to read/write beyond allocated memory boundaries, potentially achieving elevation of privileges to kernel level or causing system crash (DoS).

MitigationApply AMD's vendor patch for the graphics driver. If unavailable, limit local unprivileged access to affected systems or consider compensating controls until official fix is released.

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
Radeon SoftwareApplication
Affected:< 20.11.2

CVSS 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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Confirm Windows 10 is in use
    Run 'winver' or check system properties. This vulnerability specifically affects Windows 10 environments.
    Affected if The system is running Windows 10 and has AMD graphics hardware
  2. Identify AMD graphics driver installation
    Open Device Manager, expand 'Display adapters' section. Look for AMD Radeon or AMD Graphics entries.
    Affected if An AMD graphics adapter is present in Device Manager
  3. Determine installed AMD Radeon Software version
    Open AMD Radeon Software, click the gear icon for Settings, then select 'About' from the System tab. Alternatively, check 'Programs and Features' for 'AMD Radeon Software' entry showing version number.
    Affected if The installed version is lower than 20.11.2 (for example, 20.10.1, 20.9.2, etc.)
  4. Verify kernel-mode driver is active
    Open Command Prompt and run 'sc query amdkmdva' or check Device Manager driver details for the AMD kernel-mode driver (typically atdlxx64.sys or similar).
    Affected if The AMD kernel-mode graphics driver is loaded and running

A user is affected if they are running Windows 10 with an AMD graphics adapter where the installed AMD Radeon Software version is below 20.11.2.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

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.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 20.11.2 or later
Fixed in 20.11.2
Interim mitigation

Apply AMD's vendor patch for the graphics driver. If unavailable, limit local unprivileged access to affected systems or consider compensating controls until official fix is released.

Recommended fix High confidence

Radeon Software 20.11.2 or later for Windows 10

  1. Navigate to the official AMD support website (www.amd.com) or AMD's driver download page
  2. Select your graphics card model and Windows 10 as the operating system
  3. Download Radeon Software version 20.11.2 or a later released version
  4. Run the downloaded installer and follow the on-screen prompts to install the updated driver
  5. Restart your computer after installation completes to ensure the new driver loads properly

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Radeon Software Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing8.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
20.0 hours of engineering $3,440
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Scan for this in your stack

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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2020-12903 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

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.

What belongs here
  • 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