CVE-2020-5972

Service interruption via freeing uninitialized pointers

Published Jun 30, 2020 · Updated Aug 4, 2024

Invalid pointer release in NVIDIA Virtual GPU Manager before 8.4, 9.4, and 10.3 allows local users to interrupt the host service. The vGPU plugin leaves local pointer variables uninitialized and later passes them to a memory-release operation, causing an invalid free. Low-privileged local access is required, and NVIDIA describes the resulting consequence as denial of service.

CVSS severity5.5
Medium
EPSS probability0.32%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Invalid pointer release in NVIDIA Virtual GPU Manager before 8.4, 9.4, and 10.3 allows local users to interrupt the host service. The vGPU plugin leaves local pointer variables uninitialized and later passes them to a memory-release operation, causing an invalid free. Low-privileged local access is required, and NVIDIA describes the resulting consequence as denial of service.

The record

CVE
CVE-2020-5972
Published
Jun 30, 2020
Updated
Aug 4, 2024
Vendor
NVIDIA
Product
NVIDIA vGPU Software
Classifications
CWE-763
Attack vector
local
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Jun 30, 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 vGPU Softwareversion=All

Published CVSS scores

3.6NVDAV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:P/A:P
5.5NVIDIACVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
7.1NVDCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:H

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-763Release of Invalid Pointer or Reference

Public exploit references

No public exploit references are available in this record.

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Technologies

Your stack

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Your stack

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