CVE-2025-23281 in GPU Display Driver
Summary
by MITRE • 08/03/2025
NVIDIA GPU Display Driver for Windows contains a vulnerability where an attacker with local unprivileged access that can win a race condition might be able to trigger a use-after-free error. A successful exploit of this vulnerability might lead to code execution, escalation of privileges, data tampering, denial of service, or information disclosure.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 08/05/2025
This vulnerability exists within the NVIDIA GPU Display Driver for Windows operating system and represents a critical race condition flaw that can be exploited by local unprivileged attackers. The underlying technical issue manifests as a use-after-free error that occurs when the driver fails to properly synchronize access to shared memory resources during concurrent operations. The race condition allows an attacker to manipulate the timing of memory allocation and deallocation sequences, creating opportunities for memory corruption that can be leveraged for arbitrary code execution. This type of vulnerability is classified under CWE-367 which specifically addresses time-of-check to time-of-use flaws and race conditions that can lead to security breaches.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple privilege escalation as it provides attackers with multiple attack vectors including code execution capabilities that could be used to establish persistent access to compromised systems. The use-after-free condition creates opportunities for attackers to manipulate heap memory structures and potentially overwrite critical function pointers or control data structures within the driver's memory space. This vulnerability affects systems running NVIDIA GPU drivers on Windows platforms and represents a significant risk to enterprise environments where local access might be obtained through social engineering, phishing attacks, or other initial compromise techniques.
Attackers can exploit this vulnerability by carefully orchestrating concurrent operations that trigger the race condition, leading to memory corruption that can be leveraged for privilege escalation from user-level processes to kernel-level execution. The vulnerability demonstrates characteristics consistent with ATT&CK technique T1068 which involves exploiting local system privileges to gain elevated access. The potential for information disclosure makes this particularly dangerous as attackers could extract sensitive data from kernel memory regions or access protected system resources. Additionally, the denial of service component allows attackers to crash system services or the entire operating system, creating availability impacts that could be used for disruption attacks.
Mitigation strategies should focus on immediate driver updates from NVIDIA to address the race condition and memory management flaws. System administrators should implement strict access controls and monitor for unusual process behavior that might indicate exploitation attempts. The vulnerability highlights the importance of proper synchronization mechanisms in kernel drivers and the need for thorough testing of concurrent access scenarios. Organizations should also consider implementing additional security controls such as driver signature enforcement, system call monitoring, and behavioral analysis to detect potential exploitation attempts. Regular vulnerability assessments and penetration testing should include evaluation of driver-level security controls to identify similar race condition vulnerabilities in other system components.