CVE-2025-33179: NVIDIA NVUE Privilege Escalation Flaw

CVE-2025-33179 Overview

CVE-2025-33179 is a privilege escalation vulnerability affecting NVIDIA Cumulus Linux and NVOS products. The vulnerability exists in the NVUE (NVIDIA User Experience) interface, where a low-privileged user could execute an unauthorized command. Successful exploitation of this vulnerability could allow an attacker to escalate their privileges on the affected system, potentially gaining elevated access to network infrastructure components.

Critical Impact

A low-privileged attacker with adjacent network access could exploit this NVUE interface vulnerability to escalate privileges, potentially compromising the integrity, confidentiality, and availability of affected NVIDIA network infrastructure.

Affected Products

• NVIDIA Cumulus Linux
• NVIDIA NVOS

Discovery Timeline

• 2026-02-24 - CVE CVE-2025-33179 published to NVD
• 2026-02-24 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2025-33179

Vulnerability Analysis

This vulnerability is classified under CWE-266 (Incorrect Privilege Assignment), indicating a fundamental flaw in how the NVUE interface handles privilege management for user commands. The NVUE interface is a modern configuration management tool for NVIDIA network operating systems that provides a declarative model-driven configuration approach.

The vulnerability allows a low-privileged user to execute commands that should be restricted to higher privilege levels. This type of flaw typically arises when authorization checks are insufficient, missing, or improperly implemented in the command processing logic of the NVUE interface.

Exploitation requires adjacent network access, meaning an attacker must be on the same network segment as the target device. While this limits the attack surface compared to remotely exploitable vulnerabilities, it remains a significant concern in enterprise and data center environments where NVIDIA network switches and routers are deployed.

Root Cause

The root cause of this vulnerability is improper privilege assignment (CWE-266) within the NVUE interface. The interface fails to properly validate user privileges before allowing certain commands to execute, enabling low-privileged users to perform actions beyond their authorized scope. This indicates a breakdown in the authorization enforcement mechanism that should gate access to privileged operations.

Attack Vector

The attack requires adjacent network access, meaning the attacker must be positioned on the same local network segment as the vulnerable device. An authenticated low-privileged user can send specially crafted commands through the NVUE interface that bypass authorization checks. Upon successful exploitation, the attacker gains elevated privileges on the target system.

The attack flow involves:

1. An attacker authenticates to the NVUE interface with low-privilege credentials
2. The attacker identifies commands that are not properly restricted
3. By executing these unauthorized commands, the attacker escalates privileges
4. With elevated access, the attacker can modify network configurations, access sensitive data, or pivot to other systems

Refer to the NVIDIA Support Advisory for additional technical details on the vulnerability mechanism.

Detection Methods for CVE-2025-33179

Indicators of Compromise

• Unexpected privilege changes or role modifications for user accounts in NVUE logs
• Unusual command execution patterns from low-privileged users in system audit logs
• Configuration changes made by users who should not have write access
• Authentication events followed by atypical administrative actions

Detection Strategies

• Monitor NVUE interface access logs for unusual command patterns from low-privileged accounts
• Implement alerting for privilege escalation events or unexpected role changes on NVIDIA networking devices
• Deploy network-based intrusion detection systems to monitor traffic to NVUE management interfaces
• Review system logs for command execution attempts that exceed user authorization levels

Monitoring Recommendations

• Enable comprehensive audit logging on all NVIDIA Cumulus Linux and NVOS devices
• Centralize log collection from network infrastructure to a SIEM platform for correlation and analysis
• Establish baseline user behavior patterns to detect anomalous privilege usage
• Configure real-time alerts for administrative actions performed by non-administrative accounts

How to Mitigate CVE-2025-33179

Immediate Actions Required

• Review the NVIDIA Support Advisory for patch availability and apply updates immediately
• Audit current user accounts and permissions on affected NVIDIA devices
• Restrict network access to NVUE management interfaces to trusted administrative networks only
• Implement network segmentation to limit adjacent network exposure

Patch Information

NVIDIA has published a security advisory addressing this vulnerability. Organizations should consult the NVIDIA Support Advisory for specific patch versions and update instructions for affected Cumulus Linux and NVOS products. It is recommended to apply vendor-provided patches as soon as they become available following standard change management procedures.

Workarounds

• Restrict NVUE interface access to authorized administrative personnel only through access control lists
• Implement strict network segmentation to isolate management interfaces from general user networks
• Disable or limit low-privileged user accounts on affected devices until patches are applied
• Monitor all NVUE interface activity with enhanced logging and alerting until a permanent fix is deployed

# Example: Restrict NVUE access via ACL (consult NVIDIA documentation for your specific version)
# Limit management interface access to specific administrative subnets
nv set system api restrict-access enabled
nv set system api allow 10.0.0.0/24
nv config apply