CVE-2020-5989
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 it can dereference a NULL pointer, which may lead to 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's vGPU plugin contains a NULL pointer dereference vulnerability that can be triggered to cause a denial of service. The issue affects specific versions of the vGPU software across three major release branches (8.x, 10.x, and 11.0) prior to their respective patched releases.
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, < 10.4CVSS 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
- None
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/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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Identify NVIDIA Virtual GPU Manager installationOn the hypervisor host, check for installed NVIDIA vGPU Manager packages or services. On Linux, this may appear as nvidia-vgpu, nvidia-vgpu-manager, or similar packages. Use commands like 'rpm -qa | grep -i nvidia' or 'dpkg -l | grep -i nvidia' to list installed NVIDIA packages.Affected if No NVIDIA Virtual GPU Manager packages are found, meaning the product is not installed.
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Determine the installed vGPU Manager versionExtract the version number of the installed NVIDIA Virtual GPU Manager package. On Linux systems, this can often be done with 'rpm -qi <package-name>' or 'dpkg -s <package-name>'. The version typically follows a format like 8.x or 10.x.Affected if Unable to determine the version, indicating vGPU Manager may not be present.
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Compare installed version against affected rangesTake the identified version number and compare it against the vulnerable ranges: 8.0 <= version < 8.5 OR 10.0 <= version < 10.4. For example, version 8.4 or 10.3 would fall within the affected range.Affected if The installed version falls within >= 8.0 and < 8.5, or >= 10.0 and < 10.4.
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Verify vGPU plugin is configuredConfirm that the vGPU functionality is actually enabled on the host. This typically involves checking the hypervisor's configuration for assigned virtual GPUs or vGPU-enabled VMs. The specific method depends on the hypervisor (VMware vSphere, KVM, etc.).Affected if vGPU plugin is not configured or no virtual machines are using vGPU passthrough.
A system is affected if NVIDIA Virtual GPU Manager is installed with a version between 8.0 and 8.4 (inclusive) or between 10.0 and 10.3 (inclusive), and the vGPU plugin is actively configured or in use.
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 for 8.x branches, 10.4 or later for 10.x branches, or the latest available version for 11.x to remediate this vulnerability.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-5989 — 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-2020-5989 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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