CVE-2015-1170 in GPU Driver R346
Summary
by MITRE
The NVIDIA Display Driver R304 before 309.08, R340 before 341.44, R343 before 345.20, and R346 before 347.52 does not properly validate local client impersonation levels when performing a "kernel administrator check," which allows local users to gain administrator privileges via unspecified API calls.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 11/30/2024
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2015-1170 resides within the NVIDIA Display Driver ecosystem, specifically affecting versions prior to critical security patches released in 2015. This issue manifests in multiple driver branches including R304, R340, R343, and R346, creating a widespread impact across various graphics driver installations. The flaw represents a critical authorization bypass that enables local attackers to escalate their privileges from standard user level to administrative status without proper authentication mechanisms.
The technical root cause of this vulnerability lies in the improper validation of local client impersonation levels during kernel administrator checks. When the display driver processes API calls, it fails to adequately verify the security context and impersonation level of the requesting client. This validation failure creates an exploitable condition where malicious local processes can manipulate the driver's privilege checking mechanisms. The vulnerability specifically affects the kernel administrator check functionality, which should normally enforce strict access controls but instead allows unauthorized privilege escalation through unspecified API calls that bypass normal security boundaries.
From an operational perspective, this vulnerability presents a severe risk to systems running affected NVIDIA drivers as it allows local users to gain administrative privileges without requiring elevated access. Attackers can exploit this condition to execute arbitrary code with system-level privileges, potentially leading to complete system compromise. The impact extends beyond simple privilege escalation as it can enable attackers to modify system files, install malware, disable security features, and establish persistent access to the compromised system. This vulnerability particularly affects enterprise environments where multiple users share systems or where privilege separation is critical for security posture.
The security implications of this vulnerability align with CWE-284, which describes improper access control issues in software systems. The flaw demonstrates a classic case of insufficient privilege checking where the driver fails to properly validate client security contexts. From an ATT&CK framework perspective, this vulnerability maps to privilege escalation techniques under the T1068 category, specifically leveraging kernel-level vulnerabilities to gain administrative access. Organizations should immediately apply the security patches released by NVIDIA for versions 309.08, 341.44, 345.20, and 347.52 respectively, to remediate this vulnerability. Additionally, system administrators should implement monitoring for suspicious API call patterns and consider restricting local user access to graphics driver interfaces where possible. The vulnerability underscores the importance of proper kernel security validation and demonstrates how seemingly minor flaws in privilege checking mechanisms can result in catastrophic security consequences across entire computing environments.