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Virtual Gpu ManagerApplication · Nvidia

CVE-2020-5979

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2020-10-02
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
80/100
Remediation priority · High
Zero-click

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 · unedited
NVIDIA Windows GPU Display Driver, all versions, contains a vulnerability in the NVIDIA Control Panel component in which a user is presented with a dialog box for input by a high-privilege process, which may 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 confidence

NVIDIA Windows GPU Display Driver contains an elevation of privilege vulnerability in the NVIDIA Control Panel where a high-privilege process presents an input dialog box that can be intercepted or manipulated by a lower-privileged user, potentially allowing privilege escalation.

MitigationUpdate NVIDIA Windows GPU Display Driver to a version that addresses this vulnerability; apply vendor-released patches as soon as available.

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
Virtual Gpu ManagerApplication
Affected:all versions

CVSS 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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify NVIDIA software installation
    Check for presence of NVIDIA components on the system. On Windows, review installed programs for NVIDIA entries or check the NVIDIA driver installation directory (typically C:\Program Files\NVIDIA Corporation\). For virtualization hosts, verify if NVIDIA Virtual GPU Manager is loaded as a hypervisor module.
    Affected if NVIDIA Virtual GPU Manager is installed on a virtualization host, or NVIDIA Windows GPU Display Driver with Control Panel component is present on a Windows system with a discrete GPU.
  2. Determine NVIDIA Control Panel component status
    Verify that NVIDIA Control Panel is installed and accessible. Check for the presence of nvcpnl.exe (NVIDIA Control Panel executable) in the system. This is typically found in C:\Windows\System32\ or C:\Program Files\NVIDIA Corporation\Control PanelClient\.
    Affected if The NVIDIA Control Panel executable (nvcpnl.exe) exists on the system and is accessible to user-level accounts.
  3. Check for high-privilege NVIDIA processes
    When the NVIDIA Control Panel runs with elevated privileges (typically as Administrator), observe if it presents input dialog boxes that accept user interaction. Use Process Explorer or Task Manager to check if nvcplui.exe or related NVIDIA services run under SYSTEM or Administrator accounts.
    Affected if NVIDIA Control Panel or related NVIDIA services run with elevated (SYSTEM or Administrator) privileges while exposing interactive dialog components that lower-privileged users can access.
  4. Verify user privilege context
    Examine whether standard (non-privileged) users can interact with or intercept dialog boxes spawned by elevated NVIDIA processes. This involves checking if any NVIDIA Control Panel dialogs appear in the interactive desktop session of a low-privilege user.
    Affected if A standard user account can see or interact with input dialogs originating from a high-privilege NVIDIA process, indicating the interception vulnerability exists.

A user is affected if NVIDIA Virtual GPU Manager is present on a virtualization host (all versions are vulnerable per the provided scope), or if NVIDIA Control Panel runs with elevated privileges on a Windows system where standard users can access its interactive dialog components.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

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 data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Update NVIDIA Windows GPU Display Driver to a version that addresses this vulnerability; apply vendor-released patches as soon as available.

Fix this in Virtual Gpu Manager Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
22.0 hours of engineering $3,860
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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2020-5979 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

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What belongs here
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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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