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Virtual Gpu ManagerApplication · Nvidia

CVE-2021-1084

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2021-04-29
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 11.4 / 12.2 or later.
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 vGPU driver contains a vulnerability in the guest kernel mode driver and Virtual GPU Manager (vGPU plugin), in which an input length is not validated, which may lead to information disclosure, tampering of data or denial of service. This affects vGPU version 12.x (prior to 12.2) and version 11.x (prior to 11.4).

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 vGPU driver vulnerability in the guest kernel mode driver and Virtual GPU Manager (vGPU plugin) where input length is not properly validated. This could allow a malicious guest VM to trigger buffer-related issues leading to information disclosure, data tampering, or denial of service within the virtualization layer.

MitigationUpgrade NVIDIA vGPU software to version 12.2 or later for the 12.x branch, or version 11.4 or later for the 11.x branch to receive the input validation fix.

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:>= 11.0, < 11.4>= 12.0, < 12.2

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. Identify if NVIDIA vGPU software is installed
    On the hypervisor host (ESXi, XenServer, or KVM), search for NVIDIA vGPU packages. For ESXi: 'esxcli software vib list | grep -i nvidia'. For XenServer: 'rpm -qa | grep -i vgpu'. For KVM: check for nvidia-vgpu or vgpu packages installed.
    Affected if No NVIDIA vGPU packages are found, the system is not using vGPU and is not affected.
  2. Determine the Virtual GPU Manager version
    Check the installed vGPU Manager plugin version. On ESXi: 'esxcli software vib list | grep -i vgpu'. On XenServer: 'xe host-list' and check vgpu software version. On KVM: check the nvidia-vgpu-mgr package version with 'rpm -qa' or 'dpkg -l'. Compare the version number to the affected ranges: >= 11.0 to < 11.4, or >= 12.0 to < 12.2.
    Affected if The Virtual GPU Manager version falls within 11.0 to 11.3.x (for 11.x branch) or 12.0 to 12.1.x (for 12.x branch), the system is vulnerable.
  3. Verify vGPU is configured and in use
    Check if any VMs are assigned vGPU resources. On ESXi: use 'nvidia-smi' or check VM configuration for vGPU device assignment. On XenServer: 'xe vgpu-list'. On KVM: check VM XML configs for vGPU device. Also verify the guest kernel mode driver is loaded inside VMs using 'lsmod | grep nvidia' or 'nvidia-smi' inside the guest VM.
    Affected if vGPU is configured and the Virtual GPU Manager version is in the affected range, exploitation is possible from a malicious guest VM.
  4. Confirm guest VM kernel driver presence
    Inside any guest VM using vGPU, run 'lsmod | grep nvidia' or 'nvidia-smi' to confirm the NVIDIA guest kernel mode driver is installed. Check its version if possible with 'nvidia-smi -v' or by inspecting the driver file version.
    Affected if The guest VM has the NVIDIA kernel mode driver loaded and the host Virtual GPU Manager is in the affected version range, the full attack chain is present.

A system is affected if it runs NVIDIA Virtual GPU Manager with version 11.0 through 11.3.x or 12.0 through 12.1.x and has vGPU resources configured for guest VMs.

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
Upgrade available Upgrade to 11.4 / 12.2 or later
Fixed in 11.412.2
Interim mitigation

Upgrade NVIDIA vGPU software to version 12.2 or later for the 12.x branch, or version 11.4 or later for the 11.x branch to receive the input validation fix.

Fix this in Virtual Gpu Manager Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
22.0 hours of engineering $3,860
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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-2021-1084 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