NVIDIA Linux GPU Driver Kernel Mode Layer Allows for Privilege Escalation
Overview
A high-severity vulnerability was found in the NVIDIA GPU driver for Linux, affecting multiple driver versions in the 555.x series. The vulnerability, identified as CVE-2026-10743, is a use-after-free error in the kernel mode driver component responsible for managing GPU memory mappings. A local, unprivileged attacker can exploit this flaw by crafting a sequence of specific IOCTL calls to the NVIDIA device file (`/dev/nvidia*`). This manipulation can cause the driver to reference a freed memory pointer, leading to a kernel panic (Denial of Service) or, with more sophisticated exploitation, arbitrary code execution with kernel-level privileges. This poses a significant risk in multi-tenant environments where users share access to a single machine with powerful GPUs, such as university computing clusters, on-premise ML training servers, or cloud-based virtual machines with GPU passthrough. A malicious user could escalate their privileges to root, gaining full control over the host system and potentially accessing or corrupting data and models belonging to other users on the same machine. The issue was reported through NVIDIA's bug bounty program.
Affected Systems
Testing Guide
1. Check the currently installed NVIDIA driver version by running `nvidia-smi`. 2. Compare the displayed driver version against the affected versions listed in the NVIDIA security bulletin (555.10 through 555.48). 3. If your version is within the affected range, you are vulnerable and should schedule an immediate driver update.
Mitigation Steps
1. **Update Drivers:** Update the NVIDIA driver to version `555.52` or newer, as recommended in the NVIDIA security bulletin. 2. **Restrict GPU Access:** In multi-tenant environments, use containerization technologies like Docker or Kubernetes with strict security contexts (`securityContext`) and resource limits to isolate GPU workloads. 3. **Monitor System Logs:** Monitor kernel logs (`dmesg`) for unusual error messages or panics related to the NVIDIA driver, which could indicate attempted exploitation. 4. **Apply Principle of Least Privilege:** Ensure that users and services running on GPU-enabled machines have the minimum necessary permissions.
Patch Details
Patched in NVIDIA driver version 555.52 and later.