CVE-2021-1120
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 vGPU software contains a vulnerability in the Virtual GPU Manager (vGPU plugin), where a string provided by the guest OS may not be properly null terminated. The guest OS or attacker has no ability to push content to the plugin through this vulnerability, which may lead to information disclosure, data tampering, unauthorized code execution, and denial of service.
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 · moderate confidenceA missing null-termination vulnerability exists in NVIDIA vGPU Manager's vGPU plugin where strings provided by the guest OS are not properly null terminated. This allows reading beyond the intended buffer boundary, potentially exposing kernel memory contents from the hypervisor to the guest, and could lead to information disclosure, data tampering, or code execution.
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, < 8.9>= 11.0, < 11.6>= 12.0, < 12.4>= 13.0, < 13.1CVSS 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
- High
- Privileges
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Check if NVIDIA vGPU software is installedQuery the system package manager or check for NVIDIA vGPU Manager components. On Linux hypervisors, look for packages containing 'nvidia-vgpu' or 'vgpu-manager' in the installed package list. On Windows hypervisors, check Add/Remove Programs for NVIDIA vGPU software.Affected if NVIDIA vGPU software is not present on the system, the system is not using NVIDIA vGPU virtualization.
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Determine the installed vGPU Manager versionRun the command to query the NVIDIA vGPU Manager version. On ESXi, use 'esxcli software vib list | grep nvidia'. On Linux hypervisors, check the driver package version with the package manager or by examining the vgpu-manager service version if available.Affected if The installed version cannot be determined or the vGPU Manager is not installed.
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Verify the vGPU plugin is enabled and activeCheck if the vGPU plugin component is loaded and active. On ESXi, verify the NVIDIA VIB is loaded. On Linux-based hypervisors with NVIDIA vGPU, check if the vgpu-manager service is running and the vGPU device nodes or configuration exist.Affected if The vGPU plugin is disabled or not loaded; the vulnerability only applies when the plugin is active.
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Compare installed version against affected rangesCompare the installed vGPU Manager version number to the affected ranges: version 8.0 through 8.8.x, 11.0 through 11.5.x, 12.0 through 12.3.x, or 13.0 through 13.0.x. If the version falls within any of these ranges, the system is affected.Affected if The installed version is greater than or equal to 8.0 and less than 8.9, OR greater than or equal to 11.0 and less than 11.6, OR greater than or equal to 12.0 and less than 12.4, OR greater than or equal to 13.0 and less than 13.1.
The system is affected only if NVIDIA vGPU Manager is installed with the vGPU plugin enabled and the installed version falls within any of the listed vulnerable ranges (8.0-8.8, 11.0-11.5, 12.0-12.3, or 13.0-13.0).
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.
dbcve · scoped8.911.612.4
Apply the NVIDIA vGPU software patch/updates from NVIDIA's security bulletin. No user configuration changes are required; the fix is delivered through vendor software updates.
Upgrade to the minimum fixed version in your current major version branch: vGPU 8.9+, 11.6+, 12.4+, or 13.1+
- 1. Identify the current NVIDIA vGPU software version installed by checking the Virtual GPU Manager (vGPU plugin) version
- 2. Determine which version branch (8.x, 11.x, 12.x, or 13.x) is currently in use
- 3. For version 8.x: Plan upgrade to version 8.9 or later
- 4. For version 11.x: Plan upgrade to version 11.6 or later
- 5. For version 12.x: Plan upgrade to version 12.4 or later
- 6. For version 13.x: Plan upgrade to version 13.1 or later
- 7. Download the corresponding fixed vGPU software package from the NVIDIA Enterprise Customer Portal or NVIDIA licensing portal
- 8. Follow NVIDIA's standard vGPU software upgrade procedure, which typically involves updating the hypervisor and Virtual GPU Manager components
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA3.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-1120 — 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-2021-1120 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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- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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