CVE-2020-5983
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 and the host driver kernel module, in which the potential exists to write to a memory location that is outside the intended boundary of the frame buffer memory allocated to guest operating systems, which may lead to denial of service or information disclosure. This affects vGPU version 8.x (prior to 8.5), version 10.x (prior to 10.4) and version 11.0.
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 out-of-bounds memory write vulnerability in the vGPU plugin and host driver kernel module. The flaw allows writing beyond the allocated frame buffer boundary for guest operating systems, potentially causing denial of service or information disclosure.
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, < 8.5>= 10.0, < 10.4= 11.0CVSS 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
- None
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/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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Verify Virtual GPU Manager is installedOn the hypervisor host, check for the presence of nvidia-vgpu-mgr or vgpu manager packages. On Linux, run 'dpkg -l | grep nvidia-vgpu' or 'rpm -qa | grep vgpu'. On Windows hypervisors, check Programs and Features for NVIDIA vGPU software.Affected if Virtual GPU Manager is not installed on the system
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Identify the installed Virtual GPU Manager versionOn Linux, run 'dpkg -l | grep nvidia-vgpu' or check the file version of the vgpu manager binary. On Windows, right-click the nvidia-vgpu-mgr.exe file and select Properties > Details to view the File Version.Affected if The installed version falls within the affected ranges: >= 8.0 and < 8.5, OR >= 10.0 and < 10.4, OR version 11.0 exactly
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Confirm vGPU plugin is enabledCheck the vGPU plugin configuration on the hypervisor. On Linux, look for vgpu configuration files in /etc/vgpu/ or check if the nvidia-vgpu-*.service is active with 'systemctl status nvidia-vgpu-*'. On VMware, verify a vGPU profile is assigned to a VM in the VM settings under PCI Devices.Affected if vGPU plugin is enabled and configured for any guest virtual machine
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Verify the host driver kernel module is loadedOn Linux hypervisors, run 'lsmod | grep nvidia' to check if nvidia_vgpu_vfio or similar nvidia host driver modules are loaded. Run 'modinfo nvidia_vgpu_vfio' to confirm the module exists and note its version.Affected if The nvidia-vgpu host driver kernel module is loaded and in use by the hypervisor
The environment is affected if NVIDIA Virtual GPU Manager is installed with a version within the vulnerable ranges (8.0 to <8.5, 10.0 to <10.4, or 11.0) AND the vGPU plugin or host driver is actively being used.
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 data8.510.4
Update NVIDIA Virtual GPU Manager to version 8.5 or later, 10.4 or later, or version 11.x (or later) to patch the vulnerability in the vGPU plugin and host driver kernel module.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing8.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-5983 — 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-2020-5983 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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