CVE-2016-8812 in Graphics Driver
Summary
by MITRE
For the NVIDIA Quadro, NVS, and GeForce products, NVIDIA GeForce Experience R340 before GFE 2.11.4.125 and R375 before GFE 3.1.0.52 contains a vulnerability in the kernel mode layer (nvstreamkms.sys) allowing a user to cause a stack buffer overflow with specially crafted executable paths, leading to a denial of service or escalation of privileges.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 05/12/2025
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2016-8812 affects NVIDIA graphics driver components specifically targeting the kernel mode layer through the nvstreamkms.sys module. This flaw exists within NVIDIA GeForce Experience software versions prior to GFE 2.11.4.125 for R340 drivers and before GFE 3.1.0.52 for R375 drivers, impacting a wide range of consumer and professional graphics hardware including Quadro, NVS, and GeForce product lines. The vulnerability stems from inadequate input validation within the kernel mode driver component that handles stream processing operations, creating a dangerous condition where maliciously crafted executable paths can trigger memory corruption.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability involves a stack buffer overflow condition that occurs when the nvstreamkms.sys driver processes specially crafted executable paths without proper bounds checking. This kernel mode flaw allows an attacker to write beyond the allocated stack buffer boundaries, potentially corrupting adjacent memory locations and overwriting critical control structures. The vulnerability operates at the kernel level where the driver executes with elevated privileges, making it particularly dangerous as it can be exploited by local users to escalate privileges to kernel level access. The stack overflow condition manifests when the driver fails to validate the length of input paths passed to kernel mode functions, particularly those involved in stream processing and graphics driver initialization.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple denial of service to include potential privilege escalation capabilities that could allow attackers to gain kernel-level access to affected systems. A successful exploitation could enable an attacker to execute arbitrary code with the highest system privileges, potentially leading to complete system compromise. The vulnerability affects both consumer and professional graphics hardware, making it a widespread concern across multiple deployment scenarios including enterprise environments, gaming systems, and professional workstations. The impact is particularly severe given that the affected drivers are commonly installed on systems where users may not be security-aware and where privilege escalation would provide access to sensitive system resources.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability require immediate patching of affected NVIDIA GeForce Experience software to versions 2.11.4.125 or later for R340 drivers and 3.1.0.52 or later for R375 drivers. System administrators should prioritize deployment of these patches across all affected systems, particularly in enterprise environments where the risk of exploitation is higher. Additional protective measures include implementing application whitelisting policies to restrict execution of unknown or untrusted binaries, monitoring for suspicious process activity related to graphics driver components, and ensuring that systems are running the latest available security updates. Organizations should also consider disabling unnecessary graphics driver features and implementing least privilege access controls to limit the potential impact of successful exploitation attempts.
This vulnerability aligns with CWE-121 stack-based buffer overflow, representing a classic kernel mode memory corruption flaw that can lead to privilege escalation. From an ATT&CK framework perspective, this vulnerability maps to privilege escalation techniques through kernel exploits, specifically targeting the kernel mode driver components. The vulnerability demonstrates the importance of kernel mode input validation and the critical security implications of insufficient bounds checking in system-level drivers. The flaw highlights the need for comprehensive security testing of kernel mode components and proper input validation mechanisms to prevent memory corruption attacks that can result in complete system compromise. Organizations should implement regular security assessments of their graphics driver installations and maintain up-to-date patch management procedures to address similar kernel mode vulnerabilities that may exist in other system components.