CVE-2020-5966

Local denial of service via NULL dereference

Published Jun 25, 2020 · Updated Aug 4, 2024

NULL pointer dereference in NVIDIA GPU Display Driver affected Windows versions allows local users to crash the system. The nvlddmkm.sys kernel-mode handler for DxgkDdiEscape dereferences a NULL pointer while processing a locally submitted escape request. Low-privileged local access is required; NVIDIA scores the demonstrated impact as a system crash, while the CVE record also identifies potential privilege escalation.

CVSS severity5.5
Medium
EPSS probability0.38%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

NULL pointer dereference in NVIDIA GPU Display Driver affected Windows versions allows local users to crash the system. The nvlddmkm.sys kernel-mode handler for DxgkDdiEscape dereferences a NULL pointer while processing a locally submitted escape request. Low-privileged local access is required; NVIDIA scores the demonstrated impact as a system crash, while the CVE record also identifies potential privilege escalation.

The record

CVE
CVE-2020-5966
Published
Jun 25, 2020
Updated
Aug 4, 2024
Vendor
NVIDIA
Product
NVIDIA GPU Display Driver
Classifications
CWE-476, T1068
Attack vector
local
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Jun 25, 2020CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Aug 4, 2024Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

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Is a vulnerable build present?

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  1. Affected versionversion=All

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

NVIDIA · NVIDIA GPU Display Driverversion=All

Published CVSS scores

7.8NIST NVDCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
5.5NVIDIACVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
4.6NIST NVDAV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P

CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.

Attacks

What attackers are doing with it

Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.

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No observations available

Sep 10, 2026Sep 16, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 16, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectorlocal
Privilegesauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-476NULL Pointer Dereference
T1068Exploitation for Privilege Escalation

Public exploit references

No public exploit references are available in this record.

Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.

Technologies

Your stack

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Your stack

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