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Virtual Gpu ManagerApplication · Nvidia

CVE-2020-5981

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 DirectX11 user mode driver (nvwgf2um/x.dll), in which a specially crafted shader can cause an out of bounds access, which may lead to denial of service or code execution.

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 confidence

NVIDIA Windows GPU Display Driver contains a vulnerability in the DirectX11 user mode driver (nvwgf2um/x.dll) where a specially crafted shader can cause an out-of-bounds memory access, potentially leading to denial of service or code execution.

MitigationUpdate the NVIDIA GPU display driver to a patched version that addresses this vulnerability. Prioritize updates on systems running graphics-intensive applications or services accessible to untrusted users.

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. Check if NVIDIA Virtual GPU Manager is installed
    On the hypervisor host, check for NVIDIA Virtual GPU software components. On Windows hosts, look for NVIDIA driver components in Program Files\NVIDIA Corporation or check Device Manager for NVIDIA GPU devices. On Linux, check for nvidia.ko and vgpu_* modules via 'lsmod | grep nvidia' or 'lsmod | grep vgpu'
    Affected if NVIDIA Virtual GPU Manager components are present and the system uses NVIDIA vGPU technology
  2. Identify the NVIDIA driver version
    Run 'nvidia-smi' on the host or check the driver version through the NVIDIA Control Panel > System Information. Look for the driver version string (e.g., 460.x, 450.x, etc.)
    Affected if The installed driver version falls within the vulnerable range for this CVE (all versions of Nvidia Virtual Gpu Manager per the advisory)
  3. Verify DirectX11 user mode driver presence
    On Windows virtual machines with vGPU, check for the presence of nvwgf2um/x.dll in the NVIDIA driver directory (typically C:\Windows\System32\nvwgf2umx.dll or similar). The file may also appear as nvwgf2um.dll
    Affected if The DirectX11 user mode driver (nvwgf2um/x.dll) is installed and active on the system
  4. Confirm shader processing is enabled
    Check if the vGPU is configured with graphics capabilities enabled. In virtualization environments, verify the vGPU profile includes graphics/display functionality. Review hypervisor settings for the VM's GPU assignment
    Affected if The vGPU or graphics passthrough is configured and active, allowing shader programs to be processed by the NVIDIA driver
  5. Check for exposed graphics interfaces
    Review network accessibility of graphics services or if the system hosts graphics-intensive applications accessible to untrusted users. Check for Remote Desktop, VNC, or other remote display services using the NVIDIA GPU
    Affected if The affected NVIDIA driver is actively servicing graphics requests from applications or remote users

A system is affected if it runs NVIDIA Virtual GPU Manager with the DirectX11 driver (nvwgf2um/x.dll) loaded and processes untrusted shader input through graphics workloads.

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 the NVIDIA GPU display driver to a patched version that addresses this vulnerability. Prioritize updates on systems running graphics-intensive applications or services accessible to untrusted users.

Fix this in Virtual Gpu Manager Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
10.0 hours of engineering $1,770
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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-2020-5981 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • 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
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data