CVE-2025-23283 Overview
CVE-2025-23283 affects NVIDIA vGPU software running on Linux-style hypervisors. The vulnerability resides in the Virtual GPU Manager component. A malicious guest virtual machine can trigger a stack buffer overflow [CWE-121] in the host-side manager.
Successful exploitation can lead to code execution, denial of service, privilege escalation, information disclosure, or data tampering. The attack originates from an authenticated guest and crosses the guest-host boundary, breaking the isolation guarantees expected in virtualized GPU deployments.
Critical Impact
A guest with low privileges can execute code on the hypervisor, escalate privileges, and compromise other tenants sharing the same physical GPU.
Affected Products
- NVIDIA vGPU software for Linux-style hypervisors
- NVIDIA Virtual GPU Manager component
- Multi-tenant virtualization environments using NVIDIA vGPU
Discovery Timeline
- 2025-08-02 - CVE-2025-23283 published to the National Vulnerability Database
- 2026-06-17 - Last updated in NVD database
Technical Details for CVE-2025-23283
Vulnerability Analysis
The flaw is a stack-based buffer overflow [CWE-121] in the NVIDIA Virtual GPU Manager. The manager runs in the hypervisor and mediates GPU resources shared by guest virtual machines. A malicious guest can send crafted data through the vGPU control path, overflowing a fixed-size stack buffer in the host component.
Because the manager operates with elevated privileges on the host, the resulting corruption can be steered into arbitrary code execution, memory corruption of adjacent stack data, or a hypervisor-side crash. The attack requires local access from within a guest VM with low privileges. No user interaction is required on the host.
The exploit yields high impact to confidentiality, integrity, and availability on the affected host, and it undermines the tenant isolation that vGPU deployments depend on.
Root Cause
The root cause is missing or inadequate bounds checking on guest-supplied input processed by the Virtual GPU Manager. Data originating from an untrusted guest is copied into a stack-allocated buffer without proper length validation. Refer to the NVIDIA Support Article for the vendor's technical description.
Attack Vector
An attacker requires local access to a guest VM running on a vulnerable host. From inside the guest, the attacker issues crafted requests that reach the Virtual GPU Manager on the hypervisor. The overflow is triggered on the host, so the attack effectively crosses the guest-host trust boundary. Cloud providers and enterprises hosting untrusted or third-party workloads on shared GPU hardware are the primary risk profile.
No public proof-of-concept exploit is currently available. The EPSS probability of exploitation stands at 0.212%.
Detection Methods for CVE-2025-23283
Indicators of Compromise
- Unexpected crashes, restarts, or kernel panics of the NVIDIA Virtual GPU Manager service on the hypervisor host
- Anomalous vGPU control messages or malformed requests originating from a guest VM
- Unexplained privileged processes spawned on the hypervisor with parentage tied to NVIDIA vGPU components
- Guest VMs generating high volumes of vGPU driver errors in host logs
Detection Strategies
- Monitor host kernel logs and dmesg for NVIDIA driver faults, segmentation violations, or stack canary failures
- Baseline normal vGPU management traffic and alert on deviations in size or frequency of guest-to-host requests
- Correlate guest VM behavior with host-side NVIDIA process crashes to identify a possible exploitation attempt
Monitoring Recommendations
- Enable audit logging on the hypervisor for all NVIDIA vGPU manager service events and process lifecycle changes
- Forward hypervisor host telemetry, NVIDIA driver logs, and guest VM syslogs to a centralized platform for correlation
- Track file integrity of NVIDIA vGPU manager binaries and configuration files to identify tampering
How to Mitigate CVE-2025-23283
Immediate Actions Required
- Apply the NVIDIA vGPU software update referenced in the NVIDIA Support Article as soon as possible
- Inventory all hypervisors running NVIDIA vGPU software and prioritize patching hosts with untrusted guest workloads
- Restrict administrative access to guest VMs on shared GPU infrastructure until patching completes
- Review multi-tenant workload placement policies and isolate untrusted tenants from sensitive hosts
Patch Information
NVIDIA has published updated Virtual GPU Manager packages that address the stack buffer overflow. Consult the NVIDIA Support Article for exact version numbers per hypervisor platform and download the appropriate host driver. Reboot the hypervisor after applying the update to ensure the vulnerable manager is fully replaced.
Workarounds
- If patching cannot be performed immediately, avoid running untrusted guest workloads on hosts with vulnerable NVIDIA vGPU software
- Consolidate sensitive workloads onto hypervisors that do not expose vGPU functionality to guests
- Apply strict role-based access control to prevent unprivileged users from provisioning or executing code inside guest VMs on affected hosts
Disclaimer: This content was generated using AI. While we strive for accuracy, please verify critical information with official sources.
