CVE-2020-5970
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 an input data size is not validated, which may lead to tampering or denial of service. 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 contains an input validation vulnerability in the vGPU plugin where input data size is not properly validated. This could allow a malicious actor to send specially crafted input to the vGPU plugin, potentially leading to data tampering or denial of service conditions.
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
- None
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/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 NVIDIA Virtual GPU Manager is installedCheck for the presence of the NVIDIA Virtual GPU Manager package on the hypervisor host. This is typically installed on VMware ESXi, Citrix Hypervisor, or Red Hat Enterprise Linux/KVM hypervisors that host vGPU-enabled virtual machines.Affected if The Virtual GPU Manager package is present on the system
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Identify the installed Virtual GPU Manager versionUse the hypervisor's package management system or NVIDIA tooling to query the installed version of the Virtual GPU Manager. For example, on ESXi this might be checked via 'esxcli software vib list' or checking the NVIDIA vib package version.Affected if The installed version falls within these ranges: 8.0 through 8.3, 9.0 through 9.3, or 10.0 through 10.2
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Verify vGPU plugin is in useCheck if any vGPU profiles or vGPU-enabled virtual machines are configured on the hypervisor. This can be done by reviewing the hypervisor's virtual machine configuration for assigned vGPU devices or by listing active vGPU configurations.Affected if vGPU profiles are configured and vGPU-enabled VMs are running or defined on the hypervisor
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Check for vulnerable input paths to vGPU pluginReview the hypervisor's configuration and logging for any unusual or malformed input patterns directed at the vGPU plugin component, as the vulnerability relates to insufficient input validation.Affected if The system processes vGPU plugin inputs and the version is in the affected range
The environment is affected if NVIDIA Virtual GPU Manager is installed with a version between 8.0-8.3, 9.0-9.3, or 10.0-10.2 AND the vGPU plugin functionality is enabled or configured on the hypervisor.
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 dataApply the vendor-supplied patches by updating NVIDIA Virtual GPU Manager to version 8.4, 9.4, or 10.3 or later respectively, as noted in the NVIDIA security bulletin.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-5970 — 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-2020-5970 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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