CVE-2020-12983
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 · uneditedAn out of bounds write vulnerability in the AMD Graphics Driver for Windows 10 may lead to escalation of privileges 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 confidenceAn out-of-bounds write vulnerability exists in the AMD Graphics Driver for Windows 10. This memory corruption flaw allows a local attacker to write data beyond allocated buffer boundaries, potentially achieving elevated privileges or causing system instability.
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< 21.q1< 20.7.1CVSS 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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Check if AMD graphics driver is installedOpen Device Manager, expand 'Display adapters', and look for AMD Radeon or AMD graphics entries. Alternatively, run 'dxdiag' in the command prompt and check the 'Display' tab for AMD graphics information.Affected if No AMD graphics device is listed in Device Manager or dxdiag shows a different GPU vendor.
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Identify the exact AMD driver versionIn Device Manager, right-click the AMD graphics device, select 'Properties', go to the 'Driver' tab, and note the Driver Version string. Or use 'dxdiag' which displays the driver version under the graphics device details.Affected if Cannot locate an AMD graphics driver entry or driver version information is unavailable.
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Compare installed version against affected rangesMatch the driver version number found in the previous step against the vulnerable version ranges: Amd Radeon Pro Software versions below 21.q1, and Amd Radeon Software versions below 20.7.1. Note that driver version formatting may vary (for example, 20.7.1 might display as 27.20.1007.1 or similar).Affected if The installed driver version is older than 20.7.1 for standard Radeon Software, or older than 21.q1 for Radeon Pro Software, indicating the system may be vulnerable.
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Confirm the driver is for Windows 10Verify that the affected system is running Windows 10, as the CVE specifically applies to the Windows 10 version of the AMD graphics driver. Check the OS version via 'winver' or System Properties.Affected if The system is running an operating system other than Windows 10 (for example, Windows 7 or Windows 8.1), as the vulnerability is specific to the Windows 10 driver.
A system is affected if it has an AMD graphics driver installed on Windows 10 with a version lower than 20.7.1 (Radeon Software) or lower than 21.q1 (Radeon Pro Software).
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 data20.7.121.q1
Apply the vendor-supplied patch from AMD for the graphics driver. As this is a local privilege escalation vulnerability, prioritize patching systems with access to sensitive data or broad user bases.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation16.0 h
- Testing8.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-12983 — 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-2020-12983 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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