CVE-2020-12962
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 · uneditedEscape call interface in the AMD Graphics Driver for Windows may cause privilege escalation.
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 confidenceAn escape call interface vulnerability in the AMD Graphics Driver for Windows allows privilege escalation. The flaw permits a local attacker to escape the sandbox or gain elevated privileges through malformed escape call requests to the graphics driver.
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< 20.11.2CVSS 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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Identify AMD graphics hardware in the systemOpen Device Manager, expand 'Display adapters', and look for AMD/ATI Radeon graphics devices. Alternatively, run 'systeminfo' or check 'msinfo32' for AMD GPU information.Affected if AMD or ATI graphics hardware is present in the system
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Locate installed AMD Radeon Software versionOpen Control Panel > Programs and Features, and look for an entry named 'AMD Radeon Software' or similar AMD graphics software. Note the version number displayed.Affected if AMD Radeon Software is installed with a version number visible in the programs list
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Check AMD driver version directlyRight-click on the AMD graphics device in Device Manager, select Properties, go to the Driver tab, and note the Driver Version. Or right-click the Radeon Software icon in the system tray and check 'About' or 'Information'.Affected if The driver version shown is below 20.11.2 (for example, 20.10.1, 20.9.2, etc.)
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Verify the graphics driver is loadedOpen Device Manager, ensure the AMD graphics device shows as 'This device is working properly' with no warning icons. In Services (services.msc), confirm AMD related services are running.Affected if The AMD graphics driver is active and functioning in the operating system
The system is affected if it contains AMD graphics hardware running AMD Radeon Software with a driver version earlier than 20.11.2.
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.
dbcve · scoped20.11.2
Apply the vendor-supplied AMD graphics driver update that addresses this vulnerability. Organizations should inventory systems with affected AMD graphics hardware and deploy the patched driver through their standard patch management process.
20.11.2 or later
- 1. Download the latest Radeon Software from the official AMD website at www.amd.com or the AMD Support page
- 2. Ensure you have administrator privileges on the Windows system
- 3. Close any applications that use the graphics driver
- 4. Run the downloaded installer and follow the on-screen prompts
- 5. Restart the computer when prompted to complete the installation
- 6. Verify the installed version by opening Radeon Software and checking the version number
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-12962 — 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-2020-12962 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
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data