CVE-2025-0467 in Graphics DDK
Summary
by MITRE • 04/18/2025
Kernel software installed and running inside a Guest VM may exploit memory shared with the GPU Firmware to write data outside the Guest's virtualised GPU memory.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 09/07/2025
This vulnerability represents a critical memory safety issue within virtualized GPU environments where the kernel software operating within a guest virtual machine can potentially exploit shared memory interfaces between the guest and GPU firmware. The flaw allows for unauthorized data writes beyond the designated virtualized GPU memory boundaries, effectively creating a privilege escalation vector that undermines the fundamental isolation principles of virtualization. The vulnerability stems from inadequate memory boundary checking mechanisms that fail to properly validate memory access requests originating from the guest kernel when interacting with GPU firmware shared memory regions. This type of vulnerability falls under the CWE-121 category of stack-based buffer overflow, though it manifests in a more complex virtualized environment where memory management is abstracted through multiple layers of virtualization. The attack surface is particularly concerning as it leverages the inherent trust relationships between virtual machine components and the underlying hardware firmware, creating a pathway for malicious actors to bypass traditional virtualization security controls.
The operational impact of CVE-2025-0467 extends beyond simple data corruption or information disclosure, as it enables potential privilege escalation attacks that could allow adversaries to gain elevated privileges within the guest environment. This vulnerability directly violates the principle of least privilege that governs virtual machine isolation, potentially enabling attackers to access sensitive data, manipulate system resources, or even establish persistent backdoors within the guest operating system. The memory corruption possibilities are extensive as attackers could overwrite critical system structures, modify kernel data, or inject malicious code into the GPU firmware execution context. From an attack framework perspective, this vulnerability aligns with ATT&CK technique T1059.001 for command and script interpreter execution, as well as T1068 for exploit for privilege escalation, and could be classified under the broader T1543 category for privilege escalation through kernel exploits. The vulnerability is particularly dangerous in multi-tenant cloud environments where isolation between different virtual machines is paramount for security.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2025-0467 must address both the immediate security gap and the underlying architectural weaknesses that enable the exploit. Organizations should implement immediate patching of affected kernel versions and GPU firmware components, ensuring that memory access controls are properly enforced at all interface boundaries between guest VMs and firmware components. Virtualization platforms should enforce stricter memory isolation policies through hypervisor-level controls that monitor and restrict GPU memory access patterns, particularly those that attempt to write outside designated virtual memory regions. The implementation of memory safety mechanisms such as kernel address space layout randomization kASLR and control flow integrity CFI can significantly reduce the exploitability of this vulnerability. Additionally, network segmentation and monitoring solutions should be deployed to detect anomalous GPU memory access patterns that might indicate exploitation attempts. Security teams should also consider implementing runtime protection measures that can detect and prevent unauthorized memory writes to GPU firmware shared memory regions, potentially utilizing hardware-based memory protection features such as Intel MPX or AMD SME. The vulnerability highlights the critical need for comprehensive virtualization security frameworks that account for the complex interactions between guest operating systems, hypervisors, and hardware firmware components, emphasizing the importance of defense-in-depth strategies that protect against both traditional and emerging virtualization-specific attack vectors.