CVE-2021-23201
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 GPU and Tegra hardware contain a vulnerability in an internal microcontroller, which may allow a user with elevated privileges to generate valid microcode by identifying, exploiting, and loading vulnerable microcode. Such an attack could lead to information disclosure, data corruption, or denial of service of the device. The scope may extend to other components.
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 confidenceNVIDIA GPU and Tegra hardware contain a vulnerability in an internal microcontroller where a user with elevated privileges can identify, exploit, and load vulnerable microcode, potentially leading to information disclosure, data corruption, or denial of service. The attack may extend scope to other components.
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 dataall versionsall versionsall versionsall versionsall versionsall versionsall versionsall versionsCVSS 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
- High
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Changed
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/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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Identify your GPU modelRun 'nvidia-smi' or check system hardware inventory to determine the exact GPU model installedAffected if The GPU model matches any of these: Geforce GTX 950, Geforce GTX 960, Geforce GTX 970, Geforce GTX 980, Geforce GTX Titan X, Jetson Nano, Jetson TX1, or Quadro M1000m
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Verify all versions are affectedSince NVIDIA lists 'all versions' for each affected product, no specific version check is needed - any version of the listed GPUs is vulnerableAffected if Any version of any affected GPU from step 1 is present in the system
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Assess privileged access to GPUReview which user accounts or processes have elevated privileges to interact with GPU management interfaces, microcode loading mechanisms, or firmware update toolsAffected if Any untrusted user or process has elevated privileges that could access GPU microcode or firmware loading interfaces
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Check for microcode loading capabilityExamine if GPU firmware/microcode can be loaded or modified by privileged users - look for firmware update tools, debug interfaces, or microcode loading mechanisms exposed to privileged usersAffected if Privileged users can load or manipulate GPU microcode or firmware
If your system contains any of the listed GPU models (Geforce GTX 950/960/970/980/Titan X, Jetson Nano, Jetson TX1, or Quadro M1000m) and any untrusted user has elevated privileges, your environment is affected by this vulnerability.
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 dataApply NVIDIA firmware/microcode updates when released and restrict privileged access to hardware management interfaces to minimize attack surface.
- Consultation8.0 h
- Implementation16.0 h
- Testing12.0 h
- Review / QA8.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $12,352.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-23201 — 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-2021-23201 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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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