CVE-2025-23276 Overview
CVE-2025-23276 is a privilege escalation vulnerability affecting the NVIDIA Installer for Windows. This vulnerability allows a local attacker with low privileges to escalate their access rights on the affected system. A successful exploit of this vulnerability may lead to escalation of privileges, denial of service, code execution, information disclosure, and data tampering.
Critical Impact
Local attackers can leverage this vulnerability to gain elevated privileges, potentially achieving full system compromise through code execution, data manipulation, and service disruption.
Affected Products
- NVIDIA Installer for Windows
Discovery Timeline
- 2025-08-02 - CVE-2025-23276 published to NVD
- 2025-08-04 - Last updated in NVD database
Technical Details for CVE-2025-23276
Vulnerability Analysis
This vulnerability is classified under CWE-552 (Files or Directories Accessible to External Parties), indicating that the NVIDIA Installer improperly exposes files or directories that should be protected. The local attack vector requires an attacker to have prior access to the system with low-level privileges. Once exploited, the attacker can achieve complete compromise of confidentiality, integrity, and availability of the affected system without requiring any user interaction.
The vulnerability exists within the Windows installer component and can be exploited by authenticated local users. The impact is severe as successful exploitation can lead to multiple adverse outcomes including privilege escalation, arbitrary code execution, information disclosure, denial of service, and data tampering.
Root Cause
The root cause of CVE-2025-23276 is related to improper access controls on files or directories within the NVIDIA Installer for Windows (CWE-552). The installer component fails to properly restrict access to sensitive files or directories, allowing unauthorized users to access, modify, or execute resources that should be protected. This misconfiguration enables privilege escalation attacks where a low-privileged user can leverage the exposed resources to gain elevated system access.
Attack Vector
The attack requires local access to the target Windows system with low-level user privileges. An attacker would exploit the improperly accessible files or directories within the NVIDIA Installer to escalate their privileges. The attack does not require user interaction, meaning once an attacker has local access, they can exploit the vulnerability autonomously.
The attacker may leverage the exposed files or directories to:
- Manipulate installer configurations to execute malicious code with elevated privileges
- Access sensitive system information through improperly protected files
- Cause denial of service by corrupting critical installer components
- Tamper with data during installation processes
Detection Methods for CVE-2025-23276
Indicators of Compromise
- Unusual file access or modification attempts within NVIDIA Installer directories by non-administrative users
- Unexpected privilege escalation events associated with NVIDIA installation processes
- Anomalous process execution originating from NVIDIA Installer paths with elevated privileges
- Suspicious file permission changes on NVIDIA-related directories
Detection Strategies
- Monitor Windows Security Event logs for privilege escalation events (Event ID 4672, 4673) associated with NVIDIA processes
- Implement file integrity monitoring on NVIDIA Installer directories to detect unauthorized modifications
- Deploy endpoint detection rules to identify suspicious local privilege escalation patterns
- Review process creation events for unexpected parent-child relationships involving NVIDIA Installer components
Monitoring Recommendations
- Enable detailed Windows auditing for object access on NVIDIA installation directories
- Configure alerts for unusual file system activity within %ProgramFiles%\NVIDIA Corporation\ and related paths
- Monitor for process execution anomalies where NVIDIA Installer spawns unexpected child processes
- Track user privilege changes that correlate with NVIDIA software installation or update activities
How to Mitigate CVE-2025-23276
Immediate Actions Required
- Review and apply the latest security updates from NVIDIA as detailed in their support documentation
- Restrict local system access to only trusted and necessary users
- Audit file and directory permissions within NVIDIA installation paths
- Enable enhanced endpoint monitoring for systems with NVIDIA software installed
Patch Information
NVIDIA has released security guidance addressing this vulnerability. System administrators should consult the NVIDIA Support Article for detailed patch information and remediation steps. Organizations should prioritize patching systems where local privilege escalation poses a significant risk.
Workarounds
- Limit local user access to systems with NVIDIA Installer components until patches are applied
- Implement strict access control policies on NVIDIA installation directories
- Use application allowlisting to prevent unauthorized execution of modified installer components
- Monitor and restrict write access to NVIDIA-related file paths for non-administrative users
# Audit NVIDIA installation directory permissions
icacls "C:\Program Files\NVIDIA Corporation" /T
# Restrict access to installer directories (run as Administrator)
icacls "C:\Program Files\NVIDIA Corporation\Installer2" /inheritance:d /grant:r "SYSTEM:(OI)(CI)F" /grant:r "Administrators:(OI)(CI)F"
Disclaimer: This content was generated using AI. While we strive for accuracy, please verify critical information with official sources.
