CVE-2024-0076 in CUDA Toolkit
Summary
by MITRE • 04/05/2024
NVIDIA CUDA toolkit for all platforms contains a vulnerability in cuobjdump and nvdisasm where an attacker may cause a crash by tricking a user into reading a malformed ELF file. A successful exploit of this vulnerability may lead to a partial denial of service.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 09/19/2025
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2024-0076 affects the NVIDIA CUDA toolkit across all supported platforms and specifically targets two components within the toolkit: cuobjdump and nvdisasm. These tools are essential utilities for developers working with CUDA applications, providing functionality for examining and disassembling CUDA object files. The flaw manifests when these utilities encounter malformed ELF (Executable and Linkable Format) files, which are standard binary formats used in Unix-like operating systems. This vulnerability represents a classic buffer over-read or improper input validation issue that can be exploited through social engineering techniques where an attacker convinces a user to process a specially crafted malicious file.
The technical nature of this vulnerability places it within the realm of improper input validation and potentially memory corruption issues. When cuobjdump or nvdisasm attempt to parse malformed ELF files, the tools fail to properly validate the file structure before processing its contents. This lack of robust input sanitization allows an attacker to craft ELF files with malformed headers or sections that cause the disassembly tools to behave unpredictably. The resulting behavior includes application crashes or segmentation faults, which can be triggered simply by opening or examining the malicious file through these utilities. According to CWE classification, this vulnerability aligns with CWE-129, which deals with insufficient validation of length of inputs, and potentially CWE-125, which covers out-of-bounds read conditions. The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple crashes as it can be leveraged for partial denial of service, disrupting the workflow of developers who rely on these tools for CUDA application development and debugging.
The implications of CVE-2024-0076 are particularly concerning for development environments where security is paramount, as attackers can exploit this vulnerability through social engineering to target developers' workstations. The partial denial of service aspect means that while complete system compromise is not typically achievable through this specific flaw, the disruption to development processes can be significant. Attackers may craft malicious ELF files that appear legitimate to unsuspecting developers, potentially causing productivity losses and requiring system recovery procedures. This vulnerability also aligns with ATT&CK technique T1203, which involves exploiting software vulnerabilities to gain access to systems, and potentially T1059, which covers command and control through the use of system utilities. The attack surface is broad as any developer or system administrator who might encounter or process unknown ELF files through these tools could be affected, making this a particularly insidious vulnerability in development environments where file processing is frequent.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2024-0076 should focus on immediate patching of the NVIDIA CUDA toolkit to the latest versions that contain fixes for this vulnerability. Organizations should implement strict file validation procedures for any ELF files encountered in development environments, particularly those that might originate from untrusted sources. Security awareness training for developers should emphasize the dangers of processing unknown or untrusted binary files, as the social engineering aspect of this vulnerability relies heavily on user interaction. Additionally, system administrators should consider implementing sandboxing or restricted environments for processing potentially malicious files, and monitoring tools should be deployed to detect unusual behavior patterns that might indicate exploitation attempts. The vulnerability highlights the importance of input validation in system utilities and underscores the need for robust security practices in development toolchains, particularly those that handle binary file formats. Regular security assessments of development environments should include evaluation of third-party tools for similar vulnerabilities, as this type of issue can affect any utility that processes external binary inputs without proper validation mechanisms.