# CVE-2021-23217: Race condition in NVIDIA GPU and Tegra hardware

> Privileged users can exploit a race condition in NVIDIA GPU microcontrollers to corrupt code execution, potentially compromising system integrity and availability.

- **Severity:** High 7.5 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** An administrator
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 20 Nov 2021
- **Updated:** 3 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-mjvf-fv64-9xrq

## What is CVE-2021-23217?

CVE-2021-23217 is a high-severity vulnerability in NVIDIA GPU and Tegra hardware, published on 20 Nov 2021. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

NVIDIA GPU and Tegra hardware contain a vulnerability in the internal microcontroller, which may allow a user with elevated privileges to instantiate a DMA write operation only within a specific time window timed to corrupt code execution, which may impact confidentiality, integrity, or availability. The scope impact may extend to other components.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2021-23217?

It affects 63 products.


Products: Nvidia Geforce Gt 605, Nvidia Geforce Gt 610, Nvidia Geforce Gt 620, Nvidia Geforce Gt 625, Nvidia Geforce Gt 630, Nvidia Geforce Gt 635, Nvidia Geforce Gt 640, Nvidia Geforce Gt 705, Nvidia Geforce Gt 710, Nvidia Geforce Gt 720, Nvidia Geforce Gt 730, Nvidia Geforce Gt 740, Nvidia Geforce Gtx 645, Nvidia Geforce Gtx 650, Nvidia Geforce Gtx 650 Ti, Nvidia Geforce Gtx 650 Ti Boost, Nvidia Geforce Gtx 660, Nvidia Geforce Gtx 660 Ti, Nvidia Geforce Gtx 670, Nvidia Geforce Gtx 680 and 43 more.

## How do I fix CVE-2021-23217?

No fix has been published for CVE-2021-23217 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2021-23217 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-23217 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2021-23217 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2021-23217 is a high-severity vulnerability in NVIDIA GPU and Tegra hardware, published on 20 Nov 2021. 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-2021-23217 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: NVIDIA GPU and Tegra hardware. 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-2021-23217/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-23217/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-23217
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-23217
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2021-23217

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-23217/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.