CVE-2025-25176: Information Disclosure Vulnerability

CVE-2025-25176 Overview

CVE-2025-25176 is a security vulnerability that allows intermediate register values of secure workloads to be exfiltrated by workloads scheduled from applications running in the non-secure environment of a platform. This vulnerability represents a significant concern for systems that rely on hardware-based isolation between secure and non-secure execution environments, potentially allowing attackers to access sensitive data processed in trusted execution contexts.

Critical Impact

Attackers operating in the non-secure environment can potentially extract sensitive intermediate register values from secure workloads, compromising the confidentiality of trusted execution environments.

Affected Products

• Imagination Technologies GPU Drivers (specific versions not disclosed)
• Platforms utilizing secure/non-secure workload scheduling

Discovery Timeline

• January 13, 2026 - CVE-2025-25176 published to NVD
• January 13, 2026 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2025-25176

Vulnerability Analysis

This vulnerability is classified under CWE-668 (Exposure of Resource to Wrong Sphere), which describes scenarios where a resource intended for a restricted sphere is made available to actors outside that sphere. In the context of CVE-2025-25176, the resource consists of intermediate register values generated during secure workload execution, and these values become accessible to workloads operating in the non-secure environment.

The vulnerability affects the isolation boundary between secure and non-secure execution environments, which is a fundamental security primitive in modern system architectures. When secure workloads are processed, intermediate computational states stored in registers should remain inaccessible to non-secure code. However, this vulnerability creates a pathway for non-secure applications to schedule workloads that can observe or extract these protected register values.

Root Cause

The root cause of this vulnerability lies in improper resource exposure between security domains. The platform fails to adequately isolate register state between secure and non-secure workload contexts, allowing cross-domain information leakage. This may stem from insufficient register clearing during context switches, improper scheduling isolation, or architectural weaknesses in how workloads from different security domains share computational resources.

Attack Vector

An attacker with the ability to run applications in the non-secure environment can exploit this vulnerability by scheduling malicious workloads designed to observe or extract intermediate register values from concurrently executing or recently executed secure workloads. The attack does not require elevated privileges within the non-secure domain but does require the ability to schedule GPU workloads.

The exploitation scenario involves:

1. Identifying when secure workloads are being processed
2. Scheduling crafted non-secure workloads timed to capture register state
3. Extracting sensitive intermediate values from the register observations

For detailed technical information, refer to the Imagination Technologies GPU Driver Vulnerabilities advisory.

Detection Methods for CVE-2025-25176

Indicators of Compromise

• Unusual patterns of GPU workload scheduling from non-secure applications
• Abnormal timing correlations between non-secure workload submissions and secure workload execution
• Unexpected memory access patterns from GPU driver components
• Evidence of information extraction attempts targeting secure execution contexts

Detection Strategies

• Monitor GPU workload scheduling for anomalous patterns that may indicate probing or exploitation attempts
• Implement logging for transitions between secure and non-secure workload contexts
• Deploy runtime integrity monitoring for GPU driver components
• Analyze workload timing patterns for statistical anomalies suggesting side-channel extraction

Monitoring Recommendations

• Enable comprehensive logging of GPU workload scheduling and context transitions
• Implement alerting for unusual workload patterns from untrusted applications
• Monitor system performance metrics for indicators of exploitation attempts
• Conduct regular security audits of applications interacting with GPU resources

How to Mitigate CVE-2025-25176

Immediate Actions Required

• Review the Imagination Technologies GPU Driver Vulnerabilities advisory for vendor-specific guidance
• Assess exposure by identifying systems utilizing affected secure/non-secure workload scheduling
• Restrict GPU workload scheduling capabilities to trusted applications where feasible
• Implement additional isolation measures for sensitive secure workloads

Patch Information

Consult the Imagination Technologies security advisory for the latest patch information and updated driver versions. Organizations should apply vendor-provided patches as soon as they become available and verify successful installation.

Workarounds

• Limit execution of untrusted code in non-secure environments that share GPU resources with secure workloads
• Implement application-level isolation to separate trusted and untrusted GPU workload sources
• Consider disabling or restricting GPU workload scheduling from non-secure applications when sensitive secure workloads are active
• Deploy additional monitoring and access controls around GPU driver interfaces

Organizations should closely monitor vendor communications for updated mitigation guidance and apply patches promptly when available.