CVE-2026-24177: NVIDIA KAI Scheduler Auth Bypass Flaw

CVE-2026-24177 Overview

NVIDIA KAI Scheduler contains an authorization bypass vulnerability (CWE-306: Missing Authentication for Critical Function) that allows attackers to access API endpoints without proper authorization. This vulnerability enables unauthorized access to sensitive information through the scheduler's exposed API interface, potentially compromising confidential data within Kubernetes AI/ML workload orchestration environments.

Critical Impact

Unauthorized API access could expose sensitive scheduling metadata, workload configurations, and potentially reveal details about AI/ML training jobs and infrastructure topology.

Affected Products

• NVIDIA KAI Scheduler (specific versions not disclosed)

Discovery Timeline

• April 21, 2026 - CVE-2026-24177 published to NVD
• April 22, 2026 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2026-24177

Vulnerability Analysis

This vulnerability stems from missing authentication controls on critical API endpoints within the NVIDIA KAI Scheduler. The KAI Scheduler is a Kubernetes-native scheduler designed for AI/ML workloads that manages resource allocation and job scheduling across GPU clusters. The flaw allows an attacker with low-privilege network access to bypass authorization mechanisms and directly query API endpoints that should require authentication.

The attack can be executed remotely over the network without user interaction. The vulnerability has a changed scope, meaning a successful exploit affects resources beyond the vulnerable component's security boundary. While the vulnerability does not allow modification of data or cause service disruption, it provides complete read access to confidential information managed by the scheduler.

Root Cause

The root cause is CWE-306: Missing Authentication for Critical Function. The NVIDIA KAI Scheduler fails to enforce proper authentication checks on certain API endpoints that expose sensitive information. This design flaw allows authenticated users with minimal privileges to access endpoints intended for administrative or restricted use, bypassing the intended access control model.

Attack Vector

The attack vector is network-based, requiring the attacker to have network access to the KAI Scheduler's API interface. An attacker with low-privilege credentials can craft requests to unprotected API endpoints and retrieve sensitive information about scheduled workloads, resource allocations, and cluster configurations. The vulnerability does not require any user interaction and can be exploited by any authenticated user regardless of their assigned role or permissions.

The attack pattern typically involves:

1. Establishing network connectivity to the KAI Scheduler API
2. Authenticating with minimal credentials
3. Sending requests to API endpoints that lack proper authorization checks
4. Exfiltrating sensitive scheduling and configuration data

Detection Methods for CVE-2026-24177

Indicators of Compromise

• Unusual API access patterns from low-privilege accounts accessing administrative endpoints
• Spike in API requests to scheduler configuration or metadata endpoints
• Authentication logs showing successful access to restricted endpoints by unauthorized users
• Network traffic analysis revealing bulk data extraction from scheduler APIs

Detection Strategies

• Implement API access logging and monitor for requests to sensitive endpoints from unexpected sources
• Configure alerts for API access patterns that deviate from normal user behavior baselines
• Deploy network monitoring to detect enumeration attempts against scheduler API endpoints
• Review authentication and authorization logs for evidence of privilege boundary violations

Monitoring Recommendations

• Enable detailed API audit logging on the KAI Scheduler
• Monitor for repeated requests to configuration and metadata endpoints
• Implement anomaly detection for API access frequency and endpoint diversity per user
• Set up alerts for any access to administrative APIs by non-administrative accounts

How to Mitigate CVE-2026-24177

Immediate Actions Required

• Review the NVIDIA Customer Support Answer for official guidance and patches
• Restrict network access to the KAI Scheduler API to trusted hosts only
• Audit current API access logs for evidence of exploitation
• Implement network segmentation to limit exposure of scheduler endpoints

Patch Information

Consult the official NVIDIA security advisory for patch availability and upgrade instructions. Apply the vendor-provided security update as soon as it becomes available to address the missing authentication controls on affected API endpoints.

Workarounds

• Implement network-level access controls (firewall rules, network policies) to restrict API access to authorized systems only
• Deploy an API gateway or reverse proxy with additional authentication requirements in front of the KAI Scheduler
• Enable Kubernetes NetworkPolicy resources to limit pod-to-pod communication with the scheduler
• Review and minimize the number of accounts with any level of access to the scheduler API

# Example: Restrict KAI Scheduler API access using Kubernetes NetworkPolicy
kubectl apply -f - <<EOF
apiVersion: networking.k8s.io/v1
kind: NetworkPolicy
metadata:
  name: restrict-kai-scheduler-access
  namespace: kai-scheduler
spec:
  podSelector:
    matchLabels:
      app: kai-scheduler
  policyTypes:
  - Ingress
  ingress:
  - from:
    - namespaceSelector:
        matchLabels:
          trusted-access: "true"
    ports:
    - protocol: TCP
      port: 8080
EOF