CVE-2020-12985
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 insufficient pointer validation vulnerability in the AMD Graphics Driver for Windows 10 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 confidenceThis is a pointer validation vulnerability in the AMD Graphics Driver for Windows 10. Insufficient pointer validation allows improper memory access, which can be exploited to elevate privileges (likely to kernel level given the driver's privileges) or cause system crashes (denial of service).
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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Confirm presence of AMD GPU in systemOpen Device Manager (devmgmt.msc) and expand 'Display adapters' to see if an AMD GPU is listed, or run 'wmic path win32_VideoController get name' in Command PromptAffected if No AMD GPU is present - the system is not affected by this vulnerability
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Identify the AMD software suite installedCheck installed programs in Control Panel or Settings > Apps for either 'AMD Radeon Pro Software' or 'AMD Radeon Software' to determine which product line is in useAffected if Neither suite is installed - the vulnerability does not apply to this system
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Retrieve the AMD graphics driver versionIn Device Manager, right-click the AMD GPU under Display adapters, select Properties, go to the Driver tab, and note the Driver Version field; alternatively, run 'wmic path win32_VideoController get name,driverversion'Affected if Driver version cannot be retrieved or the driver is not an AMD driver - unable to assess for this specific CVE
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Compare installed version against affected ranges for Radeon SoftwareIf AMD Radeon Software is installed, compare the retrieved driver version to 20.7.1 - versions below 20.7.1 are affected (e.g., 20.6.1, 20.5.1, etc.)Affected if Radeon Software version is less than 20.7.1 - the system is vulnerable
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Compare installed version against affected ranges for Radeon Pro SoftwareIf AMD Radeon Pro Software is installed, compare the retrieved driver version to 21.q1 (version 21.1.x or lower) - versions below 21.q1 are affectedAffected if Radeon Pro Software version is less than 21.q1 (such as 20.x.x versions) - the system is vulnerable
A system is affected if it has an AMD GPU with either Radeon Software driver version below 20.7.1 or Radeon Pro Software driver version below 21.q1 installed on Windows 10.
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 AMD graphics driver update released to address this vulnerability. Verify the driver version on affected Windows 10 systems with AMD GPUs and deploy the patched driver through standard IT patch management processes.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-12985 — 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-2020-12985 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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- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
- No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
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