CVE-2025-23282: NVIDIA Linux Driver Privilege Escalation

CVE-2025-23282 Overview

CVE-2025-23282 is a race condition vulnerability in the NVIDIA Display Driver for Linux. A local attacker with low privileges can exploit concurrent execution flaws to escalate privileges on the affected host. NVIDIA's advisory maps the flaw to [CWE-415] (Double Free), indicating the race window allows the same memory region to be freed twice. Successful exploitation can lead to code execution, privilege escalation, data tampering, denial of service, and information disclosure. The issue requires local access and high attack complexity, but the impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability is high.

Critical Impact
A local, low-privileged user who wins the race condition in the NVIDIA Linux display driver can execute code in a privileged context and gain full control of the affected system.

Affected Products

NVIDIA Display Driver for Linux
NVIDIA GPU Display Driver components as listed in the vendor advisory
Systems running vulnerable driver branches on Linux distributions

Discovery Timeline

2025-10-10 - CVE-2025-23282 published to the National Vulnerability Database (NVD)
2026-06-17 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2025-23282

Vulnerability Analysis

The vulnerability resides in the NVIDIA Display Driver for Linux and stems from a race condition between concurrent execution paths. According to the NVIDIA advisory, the flaw maps to [CWE-415] Double Free, meaning the race window permits a memory object to be released twice. The attack vector is local and requires the attacker to be authenticated on the target host with low privileges. Attack complexity is high because the attacker must reliably win a narrow timing window between two threads or ioctl paths that touch the same driver-managed memory. When exploited, the driver's kernel-mode context provides the attacker a path to code execution, privilege escalation, information disclosure, data tampering, or denial of service.

Root Cause

The root cause is insufficient synchronization when multiple execution contexts operate on shared kernel objects allocated by the driver. Because the driver does not adequately serialize access, a second free of the same allocation can be triggered when two operations race. Double-free conditions in kernel drivers commonly corrupt slab metadata, enabling controlled reuse of freed memory for privilege escalation.

Attack Vector

Exploitation requires local access with valid low-privilege credentials. The attacker issues concurrent driver requests, typically through ioctl calls against NVIDIA character devices such as /dev/nvidia* or /dev/nvidiactl, to trigger the racing code paths. No user interaction is required. See the NVIDIA security bulletin and the NVD entry for CVE-2025-23282 for vendor guidance.

// No verified public proof-of-concept is available for CVE-2025-23282.
// Refer to the NVIDIA advisory for technical details.

Detection Methods for CVE-2025-23282

Indicators of Compromise

Unexpected kernel oops or panic messages referencing NVIDIA driver symbols in dmesg or /var/log/kern.log
Slab corruption warnings, SLUB double-free reports, or KASAN diagnostics tied to NVIDIA kernel modules
Unprivileged processes spawning root shells shortly after issuing sequences of ioctl calls on /dev/nvidia* devices

Detection Strategies

Monitor auditd for repeated ioctl activity from non-root users against NVIDIA device nodes
Alert on installed NVIDIA driver versions that do not match the fixed builds listed in the vendor bulletin
Correlate kernel error events with process lineage to identify low-privilege processes triggering driver faults

Monitoring Recommendations

Collect kernel ring buffer logs into a centralized SIEM for long-term retention and pattern analysis
Track privilege transitions where child processes acquire UID 0 without a legitimate setuid parent
Baseline normal GPU driver usage and alert on anomalous volumes of concurrent driver calls from a single UID

How to Mitigate CVE-2025-23282

Immediate Actions Required

Inventory all Linux hosts running the NVIDIA Display Driver, including workstations, GPU compute nodes, and container hosts
Apply the driver updates published in the NVIDIA security bulletin ID 5703 as soon as feasible
Restrict interactive and SSH access to systems that cannot be patched immediately, since exploitation requires local access

Patch Information

NVIDIA has published fixed driver versions in the vendor advisory referenced by the CVE.org record for CVE-2025-23282. Administrators should consult the bulletin for the specific driver branches and versions that remediate the double-free race condition, then deploy the update through their standard package management or NVIDIA installer workflow.

Workarounds

Limit access to /dev/nvidia* device nodes using group ownership and file mode restrictions where operational requirements allow
Disable or unload the NVIDIA kernel module on systems that do not require GPU functionality until patches are applied
Enforce strong access controls and multi-factor authentication to reduce the pool of users who could stage a local attack

bash

# Verify installed NVIDIA driver version on Linux
nvidia-smi --query-gpu=driver_version --format=csv,noheader

# Check loaded NVIDIA kernel modules
lsmod | grep nvidia

# Restrict device node access to a dedicated GPU group
chown root:gpu-users /dev/nvidia*
chmod 0660 /dev/nvidia*