CVE-2020-5968
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 · uneditedNVIDIA Virtual GPU Manager contains a vulnerability in the vGPU plugin, in which the software does not restrict or incorrectly restricts operations within the boundaries of a resource that is accessed by using an index or pointer, such as memory or files, which may lead to code execution, denial of service, escalation of privileges, or information disclosure. This affects vGPU version 8.x (prior to 8.4), version 9.x (prior to 9.4) and version 10.x (prior to 10.3).
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 confidenceNVIDIA Virtual GPU Manager vGPU plugin contains an out-of-bounds memory access vulnerability where operations using indices or pointers are not properly restricted within resource boundaries. This could allow an attacker to achieve code execution, denial of service, privilege escalation, or information disclosure.
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>= 8.0, <= 8.3>= 9.0, <= 9.3>= 10.0, <= 10.2CVSS 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 if NVIDIA Virtual GPU Manager is installedOn the hypervisor host (ESXi, Hyper-V, or KVM), query the installed software components for NVIDIA vGPU Manager packages or VIBs. For ESXi this may be `esxcli software vib list | grep -i nvidia`. For Linux KVM, check RPM/DEB packages with `rpm -qa | grep -i vgpu` or `dpkg -l | grep -i vgpu`.Affected if No NVIDIA vGPU Manager software is found, then the system is not affected by this specific vulnerability.
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Determine the installed Virtual GPU Manager versionExtract the version number of the NVIDIA Virtual GPU Manager component. In ESXi, check the VIB version. In KVM, check the installed package version. Record the full version string (for example, 8.2, 9.1, or 10.0).Affected if The version cannot be determined, treat it as potentially affected and investigate further.
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Verify vGPU plugin or feature is enabledConfirm that the vGPU functionality is actively configured or running on the hypervisor. Check if vGPU virtual machines are deployed or if the vGPU plugin is loaded. Look for vGPU-related configurations, profiles, or active VM instances using vGPU resources.Affected if vGPU is not enabled and no vGPU VMs exist, the out-of-bounds access cannot be triggered even with a vulnerable version installed.
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Compare installed version against affected rangesCompare the version identified in step 2 against the affected ranges: 8.0 through 8.3, 9.0 through 9.3, and 10.0 through 10.2. If the version falls within any of these ranges, the installation is vulnerable.Affected if The installed version is >= 8.0 AND <= 8.3, OR >= 9.0 AND <= 9.3, OR >= 10.0 AND <= 10.2, then the environment is affected.
The environment is affected if NVIDIA Virtual GPU Manager version falls within 8.0-8.3, 9.0-9.3, or 10.0-10.2 AND the vGPU plugin feature is enabled or vGPU VMs are configured.
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 dataUpgrade vGPU Manager to version 8.4, 9.4, or 10.3 or later to patch the vulnerability. Apply within the maintenance window following vendor release notes and test vGPU functionality post-update.
- Consultation6.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA3.0 h
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-5968 — 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-2020-5968 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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