CVE-2021-34405
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 Linux distributions contain a vulnerability in TrustZone’s TEE_Malloc function, where an unchecked return value causing a null pointer dereference may lead to 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 confidenceNVIDIA Linux distributions contain a vulnerability in TrustZone's TEE_Malloc function where an unchecked return value from a memory allocation call can lead to a null pointer dereference, causing denial of service. This exists in the Trusted Execution Environment (TEE) component of NVIDIA's software stack.
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< 9.0CVSS 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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Confirm target device is an NVIDIA Shield productIdentify whether the system is an NVIDIA Shield device running Shield Experience (Shield TV, Shield Tablet, or similar)Affected if Device is not an NVIDIA Shield product - this CVE only affects NVIDIA Shield devices
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Determine installed Shield Experience versionOn the Shield device, go to Settings > About > Version number, or check through the device system information to identify the Shield Experience versionAffected if Version is less than 9.0 (e.g., 8.x, 7.x, etc.)
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Verify TEE component is activeThe vulnerability exists in the Trusted Execution Environment (TEE) component - confirm the TEE is enabled and functioning on the device. This is typically always active on Shield devices by default as it handles secure operations.Affected if TEE is disabled or not present (unusual on Shield devices)
The device is affected if it is an NVIDIA Shield running Shield Experience version 9.0 or lower, since the vulnerability resides in the TrustZone TEE which is always enabled on these devices.
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 · scoped9.0
Apply NVIDIA's security patch for this vulnerability once available. No user-side workarounds are feasible since this is a firmware-level issue in TrustZone.
Shield Experience 9.0
- Upgrade NVIDIA Shield Experience to version 9.0 or later to remediate the vulnerability
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing8.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $4,928.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-34405 — 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-2021-34405 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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