CVE-2020-5980
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 Windows GPU Display Driver, all versions, contains a vulnerability in multiple components in which a securely loaded system DLL will load its dependencies in an insecure fashion, which may lead to code execution 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 vulnerability in NVIDIA Windows GPU display drivers allows a securely loaded system DLL to load its dependencies insecurely, enabling potential DLL hijacking where a malicious DLL could be loaded in place of a legitimate dependency, leading to code execution or 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 dataall versionsCVSS 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 software is presentCheck system for NVIDIA vGPU Manager service or NVIDIA virtual GPU driver components. On Windows, look for services named 'NVIDIA vGPU Manager' or check for NVIDIA vGPU driver files (typically nv_vgpu*.sys) in the system drivers directory.Affected if NVIDIA Virtual GPU software is installed on the system
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Determine the installed vGPU Manager versionRight-click on the NVIDIA vGPU Manager service (nvvgpu.exe or nv_vgpu*.sys) and select Properties, then view the File Details tab to see the product version, or use PowerShell: Get-Service | Where-Object {$_.Name -like '*nvv*gpu*'}; for driver files, check the version property of the sys file.Affected if Version cannot be determined or matches an unpatched release (all versions prior to vendor patch are affected)
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Verify DLL loading configurationExamine the registry key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\nvvGPU for any DLL-related parameters, and inspect the directories in the system PATH environment variable that the vGPU driver components may use for dependency resolution.Affected if The vGPU components are configured to load DLLs from user-writable directories or directories with weak access controls
The system is affected if NVIDIA Virtual GPU Manager software is installed and the DLL loading behavior follows the vulnerable insecure pattern described in the CVE.
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 dataUpdate NVIDIA Windows GPU display drivers to a patched version that addresses this insecure DLL loading behavior.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation3.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,680.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-5980 — 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-2020-5980 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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