CVE-2012-0946 in Graphics Drivers
Summary
by MITRE
The NVIDIA UNIX driver before 295.40 allows local users to access arbitrary memory locations by leveraging GPU device-node read/write privileges.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 01/02/2025
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2012-0946 represents a critical privilege escalation flaw within the NVIDIA UNIX driver ecosystem affecting versions prior to 295.40. This issue stems from insufficient access control mechanisms that permit local attackers with minimal system privileges to exploit GPU device-node read and write operations for unauthorized memory access. The flaw fundamentally undermines the security boundaries that should protect system memory from unauthorized inspection or manipulation by processes running with standard user privileges.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability exploits the inherent design of GPU device nodes within the Linux kernel's device model where the NVIDIA driver maintains device files under /dev/nvidia* that provide direct hardware access. These device nodes typically operate with permissions that allow read and write access to the GPU hardware, but in vulnerable versions, the driver fails to properly validate memory access requests originating from user-space applications. The flaw specifically manifests when applications attempt to perform memory operations through these device interfaces without proper bounds checking or privilege verification, enabling attackers to bypass normal memory protection mechanisms.
From an operational perspective, this vulnerability creates significant risk for systems running affected NVIDIA drivers as local users can potentially access sensitive data residing in GPU memory, read kernel memory locations, or even manipulate memory contents to achieve privilege escalation. The impact extends beyond simple information disclosure to include potential system compromise, as attackers could leverage this access to modify critical system components or extract confidential information from GPU memory spaces that may contain cryptographic keys, user credentials, or other sensitive data. The vulnerability affects systems where GPU acceleration is enabled and the NVIDIA driver is installed without proper updates.
The security implications align with CWE-284 Access Control Issues and can be mapped to ATT&CK technique T1068, which covers privilege escalation through local exploitation. This vulnerability demonstrates how hardware abstraction layers can introduce security gaps when proper access control validation is not implemented at the driver level. The exploitation typically requires local system access but can be particularly dangerous in multi-user environments where attackers might leverage this flaw to gain elevated privileges or access sensitive information from other users' processes running on GPU-accelerated applications.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2012-0946 primarily focus on immediate patch deployment for the NVIDIA UNIX driver to version 295.40 or later, which includes proper access control validation for GPU memory operations. System administrators should also implement additional security measures such as restricting access to GPU device nodes through file system permissions, monitoring for suspicious access patterns, and ensuring that GPU drivers are regularly updated as part of overall system maintenance procedures. Organizations should consider implementing principle of least privilege for GPU access, limiting user access to GPU resources, and conducting regular security assessments to identify other potential access control vulnerabilities in hardware abstraction layers.