CVE-2024-0078
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 Display Driver for Windows and Linux contains a vulnerability in the kernel mode layer, where a user in a guest can cause a NULL-pointer dereference in the host, which 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 · high confidenceNVIDIA GPU Display Driver vulnerability in the kernel mode layer allows a guest VM user to trigger a NULL-pointer dereference in the host, causing denial of service. This is a virtualization escape affecting both Windows and Linux drivers.
Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.
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
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 NVIDIA GPU display driver is installedRun 'nvidia-smi' on Linux or check Device Manager on Windows. On Linux, also use 'lspci | grep -i nvidia' to list NVIDIA hardware.Affected if No NVIDIA GPU driver is installed, the system is not vulnerable via this vector.
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Verify virtualized environment with GPU passthroughCheck if the system is a hypervisor host or guest with GPU passthrough enabled. On Linux, check for hypervisors (kvm, vmware, hyper-v) with 'lscpu' or 'systemd-detect-virt'. Confirm GPU is bound to a VM by checking passthrough configuration in hypervisor settings.Affected if The system is not using GPU passthrough to VMs, the guest-to-host virtualization escape does not apply.
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Identify installed driver versionRun 'nvidia-smi' and note the 'Driver Version' field. On Windows, right-click the NVIDIA GPU in Device Manager, select Properties, and check the Driver Version.Affected if Driver version cannot be determined; version comparison is not possible.
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Compare driver version against affected releasesCross-reference the installed driver version with NVIDIA's security bulletin for CVE-2024-0078 to determine if the version falls within the vulnerable range. Since no specific version ranges are provided in this CVE entry, treat all unpatched driver versions as potentially affected.Affected if The installed version is older than the patched release noted in NVIDIA's security advisory for this CVE.
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Confirm kernel mode layer components are activeOn Linux, verify nvidia kernel modules are loaded via 'lsmod | grep nvidia'. On Windows, check that the NVIDIA kernel mode driver service is running in Device Manager under 'NVIDIA kernel mode driver'.Affected if Kernel mode components are not loaded, the NULL-pointer dereference path may not be reachable.
A system is affected if it runs an unpatched NVIDIA GPU display driver version in a virtualized environment where GPU passthrough exposes the host's kernel mode layer to guest VM users.
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's updated GPU display driver patches when available. In virtualized environments, consider restricting guest VM access to GPU passthrough until the patch is deployed.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2024-0078 — 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-2024-0078 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
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data