CVE-2020-5974
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 JetPack SDK, version 4.2 and 4.3, contains a vulnerability in its installation scripts in which permissions are incorrectly set on certain directories, which can lead to escalation of privileges.
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 confidenceNVIDIA JetPack SDK versions 4.2 and 4.3 contain a privilege escalation vulnerability in installation scripts that set overly permissive file system permissions on certain directories, allowing unprivileged users to potentially modify or access sensitive system resources.
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= 4.2= 4.3CVSS 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 JetPack SDK versionRun 'dpkg -l | grep jetpack' or check '/opt/nvidia/jetpack' directory for version markers. Alternatively, check the SDK Manager or look for version files in the NVIDIA installation directory.Affected if The installed version is exactly 4.2 or exactly 4.3
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Locate directories modified by installation scriptsIdentify directories created or modified during JetPack installation, typically found under '/opt/nvidia/', '/usr/local/nvidia/', or the SDK installation root directory.Affected if Directories related to JetPack installation exist on the system
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Check directory permissions for overly permissive accessUse 'ls -ld <directory>' or 'stat <directory>' to examine permissions on installation directories. Look for permissions that allow world-writable access (o+w) or overly broad access such as 777 on sensitive system directories.Affected if Any directories created by the JetPack installation scripts have permissions that allow unprivileged users to write or modify contents (e.g., world-writable or group-writable bits set)
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Verify ownership of sensitive system directoriesCheck ownership of directories that should be root-owned using 'ls -ln <directory>'. Compare against expected root ownership for system-critical paths.Affected if Directories that should be root-owned are instead owned by lower-privilege users or allow modification by non-root users
The environment is affected if JetPack SDK version 4.2 or 4.3 is installed AND installation directories have overly permissive permissions (world-writable or otherwise unrestrictive) that allow unprivileged users to access or modify sensitive system resources.
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 dataReview and correct directory permissions set by the installation scripts, ensuring restricted directories are owned by root with appropriate access controls (e.g., 755 or stricter for directories that should not be world-writable).
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-5974 — 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-2020-5974 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
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