CVE-2025-33231: NVIDIA Nsight Systems RCE Vulnerability

CVE-2025-33231 Overview

CVE-2025-33231 is a DLL hijacking vulnerability affecting NVIDIA Nsight Systems for Windows. The vulnerability exists in the application's DLL loading mechanism, where an attacker can exploit insecure DLL search paths to load malicious dynamic link libraries. This uncontrolled search path element vulnerability (CWE-427) allows attackers to place a malicious DLL in a location that the application searches before the legitimate system directories, enabling execution of arbitrary code within the context of the vulnerable application.

A successful exploitation of this vulnerability could lead to code execution, escalation of privileges, data tampering, denial of service, and information disclosure, making it a significant security concern for development environments utilizing NVIDIA Nsight Systems.

Critical Impact

Successful exploitation enables arbitrary code execution with the privileges of the user running NVIDIA Nsight Systems, potentially leading to full system compromise in development environments.

Affected Products

• NVIDIA Nsight Systems for Windows

Discovery Timeline

• 2026-01-20 - CVE-2025-33231 published to NVD
• 2026-01-20 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2025-33231

Vulnerability Analysis

This vulnerability belongs to the class of DLL hijacking attacks, classified under CWE-427 (Uncontrolled Search Path Element). The vulnerability arises when NVIDIA Nsight Systems loads DLL files without specifying a fully qualified path, causing Windows to search through a predefined sequence of directories. When an application doesn't properly control which directories are searched for DLLs, an attacker can place a malicious DLL with the same name as an expected legitimate DLL in a location that is searched first.

The local attack vector requires an attacker to have some level of access to the target system, though user interaction is required for exploitation. The vulnerability affects the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of the system, as successful exploitation could allow complete control over the affected application's execution context.

Root Cause

The root cause of CVE-2025-33231 lies in the improper handling of DLL search paths within NVIDIA Nsight Systems for Windows. The application fails to use secure DLL loading practices such as specifying absolute paths for required libraries or using the SetDllDirectory API to restrict the search path. This allows the Windows loader to search through potentially attacker-controlled directories (such as the current working directory or user-writable paths) before locating the legitimate system DLLs.

Attack Vector

The attack vector for this vulnerability requires local access to the target system. An attacker would need to:

1. Identify DLLs that NVIDIA Nsight Systems attempts to load without a fully qualified path
2. Create a malicious DLL with the same name as the target legitimate DLL
3. Place the malicious DLL in a directory that the Windows loader searches before the legitimate DLL's location
4. Wait for or trick a user into launching NVIDIA Nsight Systems, which will then load the malicious DLL

When the application is executed, the malicious DLL is loaded and executed with the same privileges as the NVIDIA Nsight Systems process, allowing the attacker to execute arbitrary code, escalate privileges, tamper with data, cause denial of service, or disclose sensitive information.

The vulnerability exploitation depends on the attacker's ability to write files to directories in the DLL search path and requires some form of user interaction (launching the application). For detailed technical information, refer to the NVIDIA Customer Support Advisory.

Detection Methods for CVE-2025-33231

Indicators of Compromise

• Unexpected DLL files in the NVIDIA Nsight Systems installation directory or working directories
• DLL files with names matching system libraries appearing in user-writable locations
• Unusual process behavior or network connections originating from NVIDIA Nsight Systems processes
• File system activity showing DLL creation in application directories before application launch

Detection Strategies

• Monitor for DLL loading events from NVIDIA Nsight Systems processes where the DLL path does not match expected system or installation directories
• Implement application whitelisting to prevent unauthorized DLL execution
• Use endpoint detection tools to identify attempts to place DLLs in directories associated with NVIDIA Nsight Systems
• Analyze process creation events for NVIDIA Nsight Systems loading DLLs from non-standard paths

Monitoring Recommendations

• Enable Windows DLL load auditing to track which DLLs are being loaded by applications
• Configure SIEM rules to alert on suspicious DLL loading patterns from development tools
• Implement file integrity monitoring on NVIDIA Nsight Systems installation directories
• Review security logs for any unauthorized file writes to application directories

How to Mitigate CVE-2025-33231

Immediate Actions Required

• Update NVIDIA Nsight Systems to the latest patched version as provided by NVIDIA
• Restrict write permissions on directories where NVIDIA Nsight Systems is installed and executed
• Ensure users do not run development tools from untrusted or user-writable working directories
• Implement application control policies to prevent execution of unsigned DLLs

Patch Information

NVIDIA has released a security advisory addressing this vulnerability. Users should consult the NVIDIA Customer Support Advisory for detailed patch information and download the latest version of NVIDIA Nsight Systems that addresses CVE-2025-33231. For additional vulnerability details, refer to the NVD CVE-2025-33231 Detail page.

Workarounds

• Run NVIDIA Nsight Systems only from its designated installation directory with restricted permissions
• Ensure the current working directory is set to a trusted, non-user-writable location before launching the application
• Use Windows Security features like SafeDLL Search Mode to mitigate DLL search order risks
• Consider running the application with reduced privileges when full administrative access is not required

# Verify DLL integrity in installation directory
# Run from PowerShell with administrator privileges
Get-ChildItem -Path "C:\Program Files\NVIDIA Corporation\Nsight Systems*" -Recurse -Include *.dll | Get-AuthenticodeSignature | Where-Object {$_.Status -ne "Valid"}