CVE-2020-5988
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, in which allocated memory can be freed twice, which may lead to information disclosure or denial of service. 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 a double-free vulnerability in the vGPU plugin where memory allocated by the hypervisor can be freed twice. This memory corruption can lead to information disclosure through exposure of freed heap contents or denial of service via crash.
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.
-
Confirm NVIDIA vGPU Manager is installedOn the hypervisor host, list installed software packages or VIBs containing 'nvidia' or 'vGPU' (for example, run `esxcli software vib list | grep -i nvidia` on ESXi, or check the installed packages on Citrix XenServer or KVM)Affected if No NVIDIA vGPU software is found - the vulnerability does not apply
-
Identify the installed vGPU Manager versionRetrieve the exact version number of the NVIDIA vGPU Manager package (for example, using `esxcli software vib list` on ESXi or checking the NVIDIA vGPU Manager installer version on the host)Affected if Cannot determine the version - further investigation needed
-
Check if vGPU plugin is enabledVerify that vGPU functionality is in use: check for vGPU-enabled virtual machines or confirm the vGPU plugin/module is loaded on the hypervisor (for example, check active VMs with vGPU assignments or list loaded kernel modules related to NVIDIA vGPU)Affected if vGPU plugin is not present or not loaded - the vulnerability may not be exploitable in this configuration
-
Compare version against affected rangesCompare the installed version to: 8.0 <= version < 8.5, OR 10.0 <= version < 10.4, OR version == 11.0Affected if The installed version falls within any of these ranges: 8.0 through 8.4.x, 10.0 through 10.3.x, or exactly 11.0
The environment is affected if NVIDIA vGPU Manager is installed with vGPU plugin enabled and the installed version is 8.0-8.4.x, 10.0-10.3.x, or exactly 11.0.
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
Apply vendor patches by updating to vGPU version 8.5, 10.4, or later versions to address the double-free condition in the vGPU plugin.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation3.0 h
- Testing3.0 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 $2,800.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-5988 — 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-2020-5988 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
Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.
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.
- 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