CVE-2026-24167: NVIDIA UFM Enterprise RCE Vulnerability

CVE-2026-24167 Overview

CVE-2026-24167 is a command injection vulnerability [CWE-77] in the user management component of NVIDIA Unified Fabric Manager (UFM) Enterprise. An authenticated administrator can inject operating system commands by sending a crafted API request. Successful exploitation can lead to code execution, privilege escalation, and information disclosure on the UFM host.

The vulnerability requires adjacent network access and high privileges, which limits the attacker population to users who already hold administrative credentials on UFM Enterprise. NVIDIA published the advisory on its product-security repository, and the CVE was added to the National Vulnerability Database (NVD) on August 25, 2026.

Critical Impact
An authenticated administrator on an adjacent network can execute arbitrary commands on the UFM Enterprise host, resulting in full compromise of the fabric management plane.

Affected Products

NVIDIA UFM Enterprise (user management component)
Refer to the NVIDIA product security advisory for the specific fixed versions
Deployments exposing the UFM management API to adjacent networks

Discovery Timeline

2026-08-25 - CVE CVE-2026-24167 published to NVD
2026-08-25 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2026-24167

Vulnerability Analysis

NVIDIA UFM Enterprise manages InfiniBand and Ethernet fabrics in high-performance computing and AI data center environments. The management plane exposes a REST API for administrative tasks, including user account management. The user management component fails to sanitize input before passing it to a system shell context, matching the pattern described in CWE-77: Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in a Command.

An authenticated administrator issues a crafted API request containing shell metacharacters or command separators. The backend interpolates these values into a command string executed by the underlying operating system. The injected commands run in the security context of the UFM service account, which typically has broad access to fabric configuration data and host resources.

Because UFM Enterprise governs cluster-wide fabric operations, code execution on the management host can expose sensitive telemetry, credentials for connected devices, and administrative pathways into the compute fabric.

Root Cause

The root cause is missing or insufficient neutralization of shell metacharacters in user management API parameters. Input received from the API is concatenated into a command executed by the operating system without safe argument passing or allow-list validation.

Attack Vector

Exploitation requires an authenticated administrator account and adjacent network access to the UFM management interface. The attacker sends a crafted HTTP request to a user management endpoint with malicious payload data in a parameter that reaches the vulnerable command construction path. The injected commands execute with the privileges of the UFM service.

The vulnerability manifests in the user management API handler. See the NVIDIA product security advisory for technical details.

Detection Methods for CVE-2026-24167

Indicators of Compromise

Unexpected child processes spawned by the UFM Enterprise service, such as /bin/sh, bash, curl, wget, nc, or python
API requests to user management endpoints containing shell metacharacters (;, |, &&, backticks, $())
New or modified local user accounts, SSH authorized keys, or cron entries on the UFM host following administrative API activity
Outbound connections from the UFM host to previously unseen destinations shortly after user management API calls

Detection Strategies

Enable and centralize UFM API access logs, correlating request bodies with process execution telemetry on the host
Alert on process lineage where the UFM service or its web tier is the parent of shell interpreters or network utilities
Baseline normal administrator API activity and flag payloads containing command separators or encoded shell characters

Monitoring Recommendations

Forward UFM host process, file, and network telemetry to a centralized analytics platform such as Singularity Data Lake for correlation with API logs
Monitor administrator authentication events on UFM for anomalous source addresses on adjacent networks
Track file integrity on UFM configuration directories and service binaries

How to Mitigate CVE-2026-24167

Immediate Actions Required

Apply the vendor-supplied update referenced in the NVIDIA product security advisory as soon as it is available for your version
Restrict network access to the UFM management API to a dedicated management VLAN reachable only by trusted administrators
Rotate credentials for all UFM administrator accounts and audit account inventory for unauthorized additions
Review UFM host logs and process history for signs of prior exploitation

Patch Information

NVIDIA has published the fix and affected version information in the product security repository entry for advisory 5809. Administrators should consult the advisory to identify the fixed UFM Enterprise release for their deployment and follow the vendor upgrade procedure. Additional metadata is available in the NVD entry for CVE-2026-24167.

Workarounds

Limit UFM administrator role assignment to the minimum number of operators required for fabric management
Place the UFM management interface behind a jump host or bastion that enforces multi-factor authentication
Apply network access control lists to permit management API traffic only from designated administrative subnets
Enable API request logging and forward events to a SIEM for review of user management endpoint activity

bash

# Configuration example: restrict UFM management API to a trusted subnet
iptables -A INPUT -p tcp --dport 8443 -s 10.10.20.0/24 -j ACCEPT
iptables -A INPUT -p tcp --dport 8443 -j DROP