# CVE-2016-8824: Privilege escalation in Windows GPU Display Driver

> A local attacker can escalate privileges by exploiting improper access controls in the NVIDIA Windows GPU Display Driver kernel mode layer.

- **Severity:** High 7.8 (`CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 16 Dec 2016
- **Updated:** 6 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-3pg8-5qjj-jmqc

## What is CVE-2016-8824?

CVE-2016-8824 is a high-severity vulnerability in Nvidia Gpu Driver, published on 16 Dec 2016. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

All versions of NVIDIA Windows GPU Display Driver contain a vulnerability in the kernel mode layer (nvlddmkm.sys) handler for DxgDdiEscape where improper access controls allow a regular user to write a part of the registry intended for privileged users only, leading to escalation of privileges.

Weakness: CWE-284 (Improper Access Control)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2016-8824?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Nvidia Gpu Driver.

## How do I fix CVE-2016-8824?

No fix has been published for CVE-2016-8824 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2016-8824 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2016-8824 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Nvidia Gpu Driver

- [CVE-2019-5684](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-5684/): Memory corruption in GPU Display Driver (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2015-5053](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2015-5053/): Privilege escalation in n/a (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2013-5986](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-5986/): Other in n/a (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2019-5685](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-5685/): Memory corruption in GPU Display Driver (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2018-6247](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-6247/): Null dereference in GPU Display Driver (high 8.8)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2016-8824 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2016-8824 is a high-severity vulnerability in Nvidia Gpu Driver, published on 16 Dec 2016. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2016-8824 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Nvidia Gpu Driver. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-8824/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-8824/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2016-8824
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2016-8824
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2016-8824

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From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-8824/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.