CVE-2021-1056

Disclosure and service interruption via ignored permissions

Published Jan 8, 2021 · Updated Aug 3, 2024

Improper permissions enforcement in NVIDIA GPU Display Driver for Linux allows local users to disclose data or interrupt GPU service. The nvidia.ko kernel module fails to honor filesystem permissions when enforcing GPU device-level isolation, permitting access across boundaries that the operating system intends to separate. A local low-privileged account is required, and successful exploitation is limited to information exposure or disruption of GPU-backed service.

CVSS severity5.3
Medium
EPSS probability1.78%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
Coverage for this vulnerability

See if you're affected

Explore vulnerability checks for your environment with Hinoki.

Book a demo

Summary

What happened

Improper permissions enforcement in NVIDIA GPU Display Driver for Linux allows local users to disclose data or interrupt GPU service. The nvidia.ko kernel module fails to honor filesystem permissions when enforcing GPU device-level isolation, permitting access across boundaries that the operating system intends to separate. A local low-privileged account is required, and successful exploitation is limited to information exposure or disruption of GPU-backed service.

The record

CVE
CVE-2021-1056
Published
Jan 8, 2021
Updated
Aug 3, 2024
Vendor
NVIDIA
Product
NVIDIA GPU Display Driver
Classifications
CWE-276
Attack vector
local
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Jan 8, 2021CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Aug 3, 2024Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

Compare your product and version with the public record. A matching version still requires validation against your environment.

Is a vulnerable build present?

Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.

  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

3.6NIST NVDAV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:N/A:P
7.1NIST NVDCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:H
5.3NVIDIACVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:L

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.

Daily unique IPsNo honeypot observations are available for this CVE in the selected window.

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-276Incorrect Default Permissions

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

See the directory against your own environment.

Your stack

Check the software in your environment

Book a demo to see how Hinoki identifies affected software and validates exploitability in your environment.

Book a demo