dbcve.org
Gpu Display DriverApplication · Nvidia

CVE-2021-1115

MEDIUM · 6.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2021-10-27
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 392.68 / 463.15 or later.
See remediation →
67/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Zero-click Patch available

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 GPU Display Driver for Windows contains a vulnerability in the kernel mode layer (nvlddmkm.sys) handler for private IOCTLs, where an attacker with local unprivileged system access may cause a NULL pointer dereference, which may lead to denial of service in a component beyond the vulnerable component.

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
How this class of weakness works · CWE-476

The code follows a pointer that is null, crashing the process. An attacker who can reliably trigger it turns the crash into a denial of service. The fix is checking for null before use and handling the failure path gracefully.

General guidance for the null pointer dereference class — the official description and references above are authoritative for this specific CVE. Want a bespoke review and a reviewed fix? Ask our team →

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
Gpu Display DriverApplication
Affected:>= 390, < 392.68>= 460, < 463.15>= 470, < 472.39>= 490, < 496.49

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
Changed
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:N/A:H

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.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 392.68 / 463.15 / 472.39 or later
Fixed in 392.68463.15472.39
Vendor patch nvidia.custhelp.com →
Recommended fix High confidence

Minimum fixed versions: 392.68 (390 branch), 463.15 (460 branch), 472.39 (470 branch), or 496.49 (490 branch)

  1. Identify the currently installed NVIDIA GPU display driver version via Device Manager or nvidia-smi
  2. Determine which version branch (390, 460, 470, or 490 series) the current driver belongs to
  3. Download the fixed driver from NVIDIA's website: https://www.nvidia.com/Download/index.aspx or from the vendor security bulletin at https://nvidia.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/5230
  4. For branch 390: upgrade to version 392.68 or later
  5. For branch 460: upgrade to version 463.15 or later
  6. For branch 470: upgrade to version 472.39 or later
  7. For branch 490: upgrade to version 496.49 or later
  8. Install the updated driver and reboot the system

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

We can perform the upgrade in your staging environment and verify nothing breaks — typical engagement from $2,850. Get the upgrade done

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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-2021-1115 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

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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
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