NVIDIA Windows GPU Display Driver (nvlddmkm.sys): A local user gets elevated enough to rewrite display configuration

CVE-2021-1051NVIDIA / GPU stackcurated

Impact

A local user gets elevated enough to rewrite display configuration through the escape handler, taking the display subsystem out. On a headless compute node the display path matters less, but the underlying escape-handler privilege gap is the same one that produces worse bugs.

Who can reach it

Any local user with GPU device access on a Windows host.

What to do

Install the fixed Windows GPU Display Driver branch listed in the NVIDIA bulletin. nvlddmkm.sys is a kernel driver: the swap needs a host reboot, so on a Windows GPU node this is a drain-and-reboot, not a live driver reload. No VBIOS or BMC flash involved.

References

https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-1051

This entry is curated: imported from vendor advisories with machine assistance, not yet individually verified. Confirm against your vendor's advisory before acting, and report anything wrong.