Cuda ToolkitApplication · Nvidia

CVE-2022-21821

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2022-03-29
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 11.6.2 or later.
See remediation →
81/100
Remediation priority · High
No privileges

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 CUDA Toolkit SDK contains an integer overflow vulnerability in cuobjdump.To exploit this vulnerability, a remote attacker would require a local user to download a specially crafted, corrupted file and locally execute cuobjdump against the file. Such an attack may lead to remote code execution that causes complete denial of service and an impact on data confidentiality and integrity.

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 confidence

Integer overflow vulnerability in NVIDIA CUDA Toolkit's cuobjdump utility. A local user can trigger the overflow by running cuobjdump against a specially crafted corrupted file, potentially leading to remote code execution, denial of service, and data integrity/confidentiality impacts.

MitigationApply NVIDIA's patch/update for the CUDA Toolkit when released; avoid processing untrusted or corrupted files with cuobjdump.

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
Cuda ToolkitApplication
Affected:< 11.6.2

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
None
User interaction
Required
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/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. Check if CUDA Toolkit is installed
    Search for CUDA Toolkit installation directories (common paths: /usr/local/cuda on Linux, C:\Program Files\NVIDIA GPU Computing Toolkit\CUDA on Windows) or run 'nvcc --version' if the compiler is in PATH
    Affected if CUDA Toolkit is not installed means not affected by this vulnerability
  2. Determine the installed CUDA Toolkit version
    Run 'nvcc --version' to retrieve the compiler version, or check the version file in the CUDA installation directory
    Affected if Version is less than 11.6.2 indicates the environment falls within the affected range
  3. Locate the cuobjdump utility
    Find the cuobjdump binary in the CUDA bin directory (typically at /usr/local/cuda/bin/cuobjdump or C:\Program Files\NVIDIA GPU Computing Toolkit\CUDA\v*\bin\cuobjdump.exe)
    Affected if cuobjdump must be present and executable for the vulnerability to be exploitable

You are affected if CUDA Toolkit version is below 11.6.2 and the cuobjdump utility is available in your environment to process files.

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.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 11.6.2 or later
Fixed in 11.6.2
Interim mitigation

Apply NVIDIA's patch/update for the CUDA Toolkit when released; avoid processing untrusted or corrupted files with cuobjdump.

Recommended fix High confidence

CUDA Toolkit 11.6.2 or later

  1. Identify the current version of CUDA Toolkit installed by running 'nvcc --version' or checking the installation directory
  2. Download CUDA Toolkit 11.6.2 or later from NVIDIA's official website at https://developer.nvidia.com/cuda-downloads
  3. Install the updated CUDA Toolkit following NVIDIA's installation instructions for your operating system
  4. Verify the installation by running 'cuobjdump --version' to confirm the patched version is installed
  5. Ensure any projects or scripts that reference cuobjdump are updated to use the new installation path if necessary

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

Fix this in Cuda Toolkit Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
7.0 hours of engineering $1,240
Get the upgrade done

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Scan for this in your stack

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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-2022-21821 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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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