CVE-2025-23360: Nvidia Nemo Path Traversal Vulnerability

CVE-2025-23360 Overview

CVE-2025-23360 is a critical path traversal vulnerability affecting the NVIDIA Nemo Framework, an open-source toolkit designed for building generative AI applications. The vulnerability allows attackers to exploit improper path validation, enabling arbitrary file write operations through relative path traversal techniques. Successful exploitation of this vulnerability may lead to code execution and data tampering on affected systems.

Critical Impact

This vulnerability enables unauthenticated remote attackers to write arbitrary files to the system through path traversal, potentially leading to remote code execution and complete system compromise.

Affected Products

• NVIDIA Nemo Framework (all versions prior to patched release)
• Systems running on Microsoft Windows
• Systems running on Linux kernel-based operating systems
• Systems running on Apple macOS

Discovery Timeline

• 2025-03-11 - CVE-2025-23360 published to NVD
• 2025-09-23 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2025-23360

Vulnerability Analysis

This vulnerability is classified as CWE-23 (Relative Path Traversal), a weakness that occurs when software uses external input to construct a pathname intended to identify a file or directory located underneath a restricted parent directory, but fails to properly neutralize special elements within the pathname. In the context of NVIDIA Nemo Framework, this flaw allows attackers to traverse outside the intended directory structure and write files to arbitrary locations on the filesystem.

The cross-platform nature of this vulnerability is particularly concerning, as NVIDIA Nemo Framework operates across Windows, Linux, and macOS environments. The network-accessible attack vector combined with no authentication requirements makes this vulnerability especially dangerous in deployment scenarios where the framework is exposed to untrusted networks.

Root Cause

The root cause of CVE-2025-23360 lies in insufficient input validation within the NVIDIA Nemo Framework's file handling mechanisms. When processing user-supplied file paths or archive contents, the application fails to properly sanitize path components such as ../ sequences (dot-dot-slash) that can be used to escape the intended directory context. This inadequate validation allows malicious actors to craft specially designed inputs containing path traversal sequences that write files outside the designated directory structure.

Attack Vector

The vulnerability is exploitable over the network without requiring any prior authentication or user interaction. An attacker can target systems running NVIDIA Nemo Framework by submitting maliciously crafted requests or data containing relative path traversal sequences. When the framework processes these inputs, the embedded path manipulation sequences cause files to be written to unintended locations on the filesystem.

The attack chain typically involves:

1. Identifying a target system running a vulnerable version of NVIDIA Nemo Framework
2. Crafting a malicious payload containing relative path traversal sequences (e.g., ../../../etc/cron.d/malicious)
3. Submitting the payload through an accessible network interface
4. The framework processes the input without proper path sanitization
5. Arbitrary files are written to attacker-controlled locations, enabling code execution

Detection Methods for CVE-2025-23360

Indicators of Compromise

• Unexpected file creation or modification in system directories outside NVIDIA Nemo working directories
• Presence of files containing path traversal sequences in web server or application logs
• Newly created scheduled tasks, cron jobs, or startup scripts with unknown origins
• Modification of configuration files in sensitive system locations

Detection Strategies

• Monitor file system activity for write operations containing ../ or ..\ sequences in path parameters
• Implement application-level logging to capture all file write operations with full path information
• Deploy file integrity monitoring (FIM) solutions on critical system directories
• Analyze NVIDIA Nemo Framework logs for anomalous file path patterns

Monitoring Recommendations

• Configure security information and event management (SIEM) rules to alert on path traversal patterns in application logs
• Enable enhanced logging for NVIDIA Nemo Framework deployments to capture detailed file operation metadata
• Implement network traffic inspection to detect malicious payloads containing path traversal sequences
• Establish baseline file system activity and alert on deviations in sensitive directories

How to Mitigate CVE-2025-23360

Immediate Actions Required

• Review the official NVIDIA security advisory and apply the latest security patches immediately
• Implement network segmentation to limit exposure of NVIDIA Nemo Framework deployments
• Deploy web application firewall (WAF) rules to filter requests containing path traversal patterns
• Audit existing file system permissions and restrict write access to essential directories only

Patch Information

NVIDIA has released security updates to address this vulnerability. Administrators should consult the NVIDIA Security Advisory for detailed patch information and upgrade instructions. All organizations running NVIDIA Nemo Framework should prioritize applying the security update as soon as possible given the critical severity of this vulnerability.

Workarounds

• If patching is not immediately possible, consider temporarily isolating NVIDIA Nemo Framework instances from untrusted networks
• Implement strict input validation at the application or reverse proxy level to reject requests containing relative path sequences
• Configure the application to run with minimal filesystem permissions using principle of least privilege
• Deploy containerization with read-only root filesystems and restricted volume mounts where feasible

# Example: Restrict NVIDIA Nemo working directory permissions
chmod 750 /opt/nvidia/nemo/workspace
chown -R nemo:nemo /opt/nvidia/nemo/workspace

# Example: SELinux policy to restrict file writes (Linux)
semanage fcontext -a -t nemo_rw_t "/opt/nvidia/nemo/workspace(/.*)?"
restorecon -Rv /opt/nvidia/nemo/workspace