CVE-2025-33182: NVIDIA Jetson Linux UEFI Vulnerability

CVE-2025-33182 Overview

CVE-2025-33182 affects NVIDIA Jetson Linux and resides in the Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI). The flaw stems from improper authentication [CWE-862] that permits a privileged user to corrupt the Linux Device Tree. Successful exploitation can result in data tampering and denial of service against the affected device.

The issue is tracked with a CVSS 3.1 base score of 7.6 and carries an EPSS probability of 0.304% (22.0 percentile). No public exploit code or CISA KEV listing exists at the time of publication.

Critical Impact
A privileged local actor can modify the Linux Device Tree through UEFI, undermining boot integrity on NVIDIA Jetson edge and embedded platforms.

Affected Products

NVIDIA Jetson Linux (UEFI component)
NVIDIA Jetson edge and embedded compute modules running affected Jetson Linux releases
Downstream products built on vulnerable Jetson Linux BSP images

Discovery Timeline

2025-10-14 - CVE-2025-33182 published to NVD
2026-06-17 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2025-33182

Vulnerability Analysis

The vulnerability resides in the UEFI firmware shipped with NVIDIA Jetson Linux. UEFI is responsible for platform initialization and for passing the Linux Device Tree Blob (DTB) to the kernel during boot. The Device Tree describes hardware topology, memory regions, peripherals, and boot parameters consumed by the kernel.

Because UEFI does not adequately authenticate the requester before allowing modification of Device Tree contents, a user already holding elevated privileges can alter or replace DTB data. Tampered Device Tree entries can change device addresses, disable security-relevant nodes, or alter kernel command-line arguments parsed at boot.

The attack scope is marked as changed in the CVSS vector, reflecting that corruption introduced through UEFI affects the integrity of the subsequently loaded Linux kernel and userland.

Root Cause

The root cause is missing authorization [CWE-862] in UEFI code paths that handle Device Tree modification. The firmware accepts modification requests from privileged contexts without verifying that the caller is permitted to alter boot-critical structures, violating the principle of least privilege at the firmware layer.

Attack Vector

An attacker requires high privileges on the Jetson device. With those privileges, the attacker invokes the UEFI interfaces that mutate Device Tree contents and persists corrupted entries. On the next boot, the Linux kernel parses the malformed or attacker-controlled DTB.

Resulting impact includes data tampering through redirected hardware bindings, denial of service through misconfigured peripherals or memory maps, and degraded availability of the platform. The flaw does not directly disclose confidential data but undermines integrity of the boot chain.

No working public proof-of-concept has been published. See the NVIDIA Support Article for vendor technical details.

Detection Methods for CVE-2025-33182

Indicators of Compromise

Unexpected modifications to the Device Tree Blob compared to the vendor-shipped baseline hash
UEFI variables related to boot configuration that have changed outside an authorized firmware update window
Kernel boot logs (dmesg) showing unusual device bindings, missing peripherals, or altered bootargs
Unexplained boot failures or repeated kernel panics on Jetson devices in production fleets

Detection Strategies

Generate cryptographic hashes of the deployed DTB and compare against known-good vendor images during boot or scheduled audits
Monitor privileged process activity on Jetson Linux endpoints for invocation of UEFI update utilities such as flashing tools, nvbootctrl, or custom Capsule update calls
Alert on writes to /sys/firmware/devicetree/ and /proc/device-tree/ made by non-baseline accounts
Centralize Jetson boot and firmware logs into a SIEM for correlation across fleets

Monitoring Recommendations

Ingest Jetson Linux audit logs and dmesg output into Singularity Data Lake using OCSF normalization for long-term retention and cross-fleet hunting
Use Singularity Endpoint behavioral AI on supported Linux distributions to flag privilege escalation and firmware tampering activity preceding UEFI modification
Track UEFI Secure Boot state and Device Tree integrity metrics as continuous telemetry, not point-in-time checks

How to Mitigate CVE-2025-33182

Immediate Actions Required

Apply the NVIDIA Jetson Linux update referenced in the NVIDIA Support Article to all affected devices
Inventory Jetson devices and confirm the running Jetson Linux and UEFI versions against vendor advisories
Restrict and audit accounts that hold root or equivalent privileges on Jetson platforms
Validate Secure Boot configuration and key provisioning across the fleet

Patch Information

NVIDIA has published guidance and updated Jetson Linux releases in the official advisory. Refer to the NVIDIA Support Article (Answer ID 5716) for the specific affected versions, fixed releases, and flashing instructions for each Jetson module family.

Workarounds

Limit physical and remote administrative access to Jetson devices until patches are applied
Enforce strict role separation so that day-to-day operational accounts cannot reach UEFI update interfaces
Enable and verify UEFI Secure Boot with vendor-signed firmware to reduce the impact of unauthorized Device Tree changes
Maintain offline, verified golden images of DTB and firmware for rapid recovery of tampered devices

bash

# Verify deployed Device Tree against a known-good baseline
sha256sum /boot/dtb/*.dtb

# Inspect current Device Tree as exposed to userspace
ls -la /proc/device-tree/

# Confirm Jetson Linux release for advisory cross-reference
cat /etc/nv_tegra_release