CVE-2026-47501 in GeForce
Summary
by MITRE • 09/30/2026
NVIDIA GPU Display Driver for Linux contains a vulnerability in the kernel mode layer where a user could cause an out-of-bounds write by supplying mismatched memory buffers during event buffer setup. A successful exploit of this vulnerability might lead to code execution, denial of service, escalation of privileges, information disclosure, and data tampering.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 09/30/2026
The NVIDIA GPU Display Driver for Linux contains a critical security flaw within its kernel mode driver layer that allows local users to trigger an out-of-bounds write operation. This vulnerability arises specifically during the setup phase of event buffers, where the driver fails to adequately validate or synchronize memory buffer parameters provided by user-space applications. When a malicious actor supplies mismatched memory buffers—such as providing a source buffer size that does not align with the expected destination buffer capacity—the kernel mode component performs write operations beyond the allocated boundaries of the target memory region. This lack of rigorous bounds checking constitutes a classic heap or stack overflow condition, depending on the specific allocation strategy employed by the driver for these event structures. The flaw is particularly dangerous because it resides in ring 0, granting any process with access to the GPU device nodes the potential to manipulate kernel memory directly without requiring elevated privileges initially.
From an operational perspective, this vulnerability significantly expands the attack surface of systems utilizing NVIDIA graphics hardware under Linux environments. A successful exploitation allows a local attacker to achieve arbitrary code execution within the context of the operating system kernel. This capability effectively bypasses standard user-space isolation mechanisms and security boundaries. The immediate impact includes denial of service conditions where the instability caused by memory corruption can crash the entire system or specific graphical subsystems, leading to significant downtime for workstations and servers alike. Furthermore, because the exploit occurs in kernel mode, it facilitates privilege escalation from a low-privileged unauthenticated user account to root-level access. This transition grants the attacker full control over the operating system, enabling them to install malware, create backdoors, or modify critical system configurations without detection by standard security monitoring tools that typically focus on user-space anomalies.
The implications of this vulnerability extend beyond simple privilege escalation to include severe information disclosure and data tampering risks. By writing outside allocated buffers, an attacker can overwrite adjacent memory structures containing sensitive kernel data, potentially leaking cryptographic keys, session tokens, or other confidential information stored in nearby heap allocations. Additionally, the ability to corrupt arbitrary memory locations allows for sophisticated attacks such as return-oriented programming (ROP) chains that redirect execution flow to malicious payloads embedded within the system’s own libraries. This aligns with common exploitation techniques documented in industry standards like CWE-787, which classifies out-of-bounds writes as a critical category of memory safety violations. The vulnerability also maps closely to MITRE ATT&CK tactics related to privilege escalation and defense evasion, specifically leveraging kernel vulnerabilities to maintain persistence or escalate access after initial compromise through less privileged vectors such as web applications or local service exploits.
Mitigation strategies for this issue primarily involve the timely application of vendor-provided patches that address the buffer validation logic within the NVIDIA GPU Display Driver’s kernel module. System administrators should prioritize updating their drivers to versions where the event buffer setup routines have been hardened with strict size checks and pointer validations before performing memory operations. In environments where immediate patching is not feasible, restricting access to the /dev/nvidia* device nodes via Linux permissions can limit exposure to only trusted users or services that require GPU acceleration. Additionally, enabling kernel hardening features such as KASLR (Kernel Address Space Layout Randomization) and SMEP/SMAP (Supervisor Mode Execution Prevention/Access Prevention) on supported hardware architectures can mitigate the likelihood of successful code execution by making it more difficult for attackers to predict memory layouts or execute user-space code in supervisor mode. Regular security audits focusing on third-party kernel modules are also recommended to ensure that similar validation gaps do not exist elsewhere in the system’s driver stack.