CVE-2026-47535 in Virtual GPU Manager
Summary
by MITRE • 09/30/2026
NVIDIA vGPU Virtual GPU Manager for Linux contains a vulnerability in the firmware where an attacker could cause an out-of-bounds read. 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 vGPU Virtual GPU Manager for Linux represents a critical component in virtualized computing environments, facilitating the sharing of physical GPU resources among multiple virtual machines through hardware-assisted virtualization technologies such as SR-IOV or time-slicing mechanisms. This software stack operates at a privileged level within the host system architecture, often interacting directly with kernel-level drivers and firmware interfaces to manage memory allocation, context switching, and resource isolation between guest instances. The vulnerability identified in this component resides specifically within the firmware layer that governs these virtualization operations, indicating a flaw in the low-level code responsible for enforcing boundaries during data access or buffer management routines. Such vulnerabilities are particularly severe because they exist below the operating system's standard security controls, potentially bypassing user-space protections and leveraging direct hardware interactions to execute malicious actions with elevated privileges inherent to the GPU manager process.
The technical nature of this flaw is characterized as an out-of-bounds read, which falls under the Common Weakness Enumeration category CWE-125. This type of memory safety violation occurs when a program attempts to read data from a memory location that lies outside the intended buffer boundaries. In the context of GPU firmware and virtualization managers, this typically happens during the processing of malformed or specially crafted input packets sent by a guest VM or through management interfaces. When the system fails to properly validate indices or lengths before accessing array elements or structured data buffers, it may read adjacent memory contents that were not intended for access. This improper validation allows an attacker who has control over specific inputs within the virtualized environment to trigger this condition, causing the processor to fetch sensitive information from kernel space or other protected regions of memory into a location accessible by the malicious actor.
The operational impact of exploiting this out-of-bounds read is multifaceted and potentially catastrophic for system integrity. Initially, it enables unauthorized information disclosure, where an attacker can exfiltrate confidential data such as cryptographic keys, user credentials, or proprietary algorithms stored in adjacent memory regions. Beyond mere leakage, the ability to control what data is read can serve as a primitive for further exploitation techniques. By carefully crafting inputs that manipulate stack pointers or return addresses based on leaked information, an attacker may achieve arbitrary code execution within the context of the vulnerable process. Since the NVIDIA vGPU manager typically runs with high privileges, successful exploitation could lead to full compromise of the host system, allowing privilege escalation from a low-privileged guest VM to root-level access on the physical server. Additionally, denial of service is a direct consequence if the out-of-bounds read causes memory corruption or triggers hardware faults that crash the virtualization stack, disrupting services for all other tenants sharing the GPU resources.
From a threat modeling perspective aligned with MITRE ATT&CK frameworks, this vulnerability facilitates techniques associated with Initial Access and Privilege Escalation, specifically leveraging software vulnerabilities in system components to gain foothold and expand control. The ability to tamper with data further aligns with Impact tactics involving Data Manipulation or Destruction. To mitigate these risks, immediate deployment of vendor-provided firmware updates is essential, as NVIDIA has likely released patches that enforce stricter bounds checking and input validation within the virtual GPU manager logic. Administrators should also implement network segmentation to restrict access to management interfaces and ensure that only trusted VMs can interact with vGPU services. Furthermore, enabling hardware-enforced memory protection features such as Intel VT-d or AMD IOMMU where available adds an additional layer of isolation, limiting the blast radius if a vulnerability is successfully exploited by preventing direct DMA attacks and enforcing stricter domain boundaries between devices and system memory.