CVE-2011-2603 in 9400M driver
Summary
by MITRE
The NVIDIA 9400M driver 6.2.6 on Mac OS X 10.6.7 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (desktop hang) via a crafted web page that is visited with Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox, as demonstrated by the lots-of-polys-example.html test page in the Khronos WebGL SDK.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 01/16/2018
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2011-2603 represents a critical denial of service flaw within the NVIDIA 9400M graphics driver version 6.2.6 running on Mac OS X 10.6.7 systems. This issue specifically affects web browsing environments where users interact with maliciously crafted web content through popular browsers including Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox. The vulnerability manifests when users visit a specially designed web page that triggers improper handling of graphics rendering operations within the affected driver, leading to complete system desktop freezes or hangs that require manual intervention to resolve.
The technical root cause of this vulnerability lies in the improper validation and handling of graphics commands within the NVIDIA graphics driver's WebGL implementation. When the affected driver processes specific graphics operations through the Khronos WebGL SDK test page, particularly the lots-of-polys-example.html demonstration, it fails to properly validate input parameters or handle memory allocation for complex polygon rendering operations. This lack of proper bounds checking and resource management creates a condition where maliciously constructed graphics commands can cause the graphics processing unit to enter an unrecoverable state, resulting in system-wide desktop hangs that prevent normal user interaction with the operating system.
From an operational impact perspective, this vulnerability presents significant security concerns for macOS users who frequently browse the internet and access web content through their browsers. The attack vector is particularly dangerous because it requires no local privileges or user interaction beyond visiting a malicious webpage, making it a prime candidate for drive-by download attacks or social engineering campaigns. The vulnerability affects the core graphics subsystem of the operating system, meaning that even if users have security software installed, they cannot easily protect against this specific type of attack since it operates at the driver level rather than the application level. The impact extends beyond simple inconvenience to potential data loss scenarios where users may be forced to perform hard resets of their systems, potentially resulting in corruption of unsaved work or system instability.
This vulnerability aligns with CWE-121, which describes a buffer overflow condition where insufficient boundary checking allows an attacker to overwrite memory locations, and relates to ATT&CK technique T1059.007 for execution through web browsers. The flaw demonstrates poor input validation practices within the graphics driver's rendering pipeline, particularly when handling WebGL graphics commands that are designed to stress test graphics processing capabilities. The vulnerability's exploitation requires minimal technical skill from attackers, as it leverages existing browser functionality to deliver malicious graphics content that triggers the driver's failure state. Organizations and individual users should consider immediate mitigation strategies including driver updates, browser security patches, and network-level protections such as web filtering solutions to prevent access to known malicious domains that might host such exploit content.
The remediation approach for this vulnerability involves updating to newer versions of the NVIDIA graphics driver that properly implement bounds checking and resource management for graphics operations. Apple users should ensure their systems are updated to the latest macOS versions that include patched graphics drivers, while also maintaining current browser versions that may contain additional protections against such attacks. Network administrators should consider implementing web content filtering solutions that can block access to known malicious domains hosting such exploit content, particularly those related to graphics testing frameworks or WebGL demonstrations that might be used for malicious purposes. Additionally, users should exercise caution when visiting untrusted websites and avoid clicking on suspicious links that might lead to malicious web pages designed to exploit this specific graphics driver vulnerability.