CVE-2021-1076

What it actually does

Improper access control in the kernel-mode display driver (nvlddmkm.sys or nvidia.ko) allows a local process to bypass authorization checks and directly affect driver-managed GPU resources, resulting in denial of service, information disclosure, or memory corruption.

Why it matters to the business

Systems using the affected NVIDIA drivers may experience unexpected GPU-related crashes, exposure of sensitive graphics data, or corruption of rendered output, disrupting workloads that rely on the GPU such as visualization, compute, or desktop graphics.

How an attack unfolds

An attacker with local low-privileged access crafts calls to the vulnerable driver entry points that skip intended access-control checks, directly manipulating kernel structures to read or corrupt GPU memory or force driver faults.

How to fix it

Replace the installed NVIDIA GPU Display Driver with the most recent version published by NVIDIA that resolves the improper access-control issue in the kernel-mode layer; on Debian-based systems ensure the packaged nvidia-driver is updated to a fixed release from the distribution or NVIDIA repository.

How to confirm the fix worked

Compare the currently loaded driver version (via nvidia-smi, Device Manager, or modinfo) against NVIDIA's security bulletin; confirm that the nvlddmkm.sys or nvidia.ko binary no longer contains the vulnerable authorization paths described in the advisory.

Typical attack path

1. Obtain local user access on a Windows or Linux system with the vulnerable NVIDIA driver loaded
2. Load or interact with the nvlddmkm.sys / nvidia.ko kernel module via standard driver IOCTL or device file interfaces
3. Issue malformed requests that exploit the missing authorization checks
4. Trigger denial of service, read arbitrary kernel-adjacent data, or corrupt GPU state

How to detect it

Review Windows system and application event logs for nvlddmkm.sys faults, Linux kernel logs (dmesg/journalctl) for nvidia.ko errors, and any security tooling that records driver IOCTL activity or GPU memory access violations around the time of suspected incidents.

• nvlddmkm.sys
• nvidia.ko

What your security team should do

• Prioritize driver updates on all systems that render graphics or run GPU-accelerated workloads
• Audit local user privileges to reduce the pool of accounts that can reach the kernel driver
• Monitor NVIDIA and distribution advisories for subsequent patches given the multi-year age of the disclosure