CVE-2026-24189: NVIDIA CUDA-Q DoS Vulnerability

CVE-2026-24189 Overview

NVIDIA CUDA-Q contains a vulnerability in an endpoint where an unauthenticated attacker could cause an out-of-bounds read by sending a maliciously crafted request. A successful exploit of this vulnerability might lead to denial of service and information disclosure. This vulnerability (CWE-125) allows attackers to read memory contents beyond the intended buffer boundaries, potentially exposing sensitive information or causing system instability.

Critical Impact

Unauthenticated attackers can remotely trigger an out-of-bounds read condition, potentially causing denial of service and leaking sensitive information from memory.

Affected Products

• NVIDIA CUDA-Q (specific versions not disclosed)

Discovery Timeline

• 2026-04-21 - CVE-2026-24189 published to NVD
• 2026-04-22 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2026-24189

Vulnerability Analysis

This vulnerability is classified as an out-of-bounds read (CWE-125), a memory safety issue that occurs when a program reads data past the boundary of an allocated buffer. In the context of NVIDIA CUDA-Q, the vulnerability exists in an endpoint that fails to properly validate the boundaries of incoming requests before processing them.

The attack can be executed remotely over the network without requiring authentication or user interaction. An attacker can craft malicious requests that cause the application to read memory beyond the intended buffer boundaries. This can result in two primary impacts: denial of service through application crashes or instability, and information disclosure through exposure of sensitive data that may reside in adjacent memory regions.

Root Cause

The root cause is improper bounds checking when processing incoming requests at a vulnerable endpoint. The application fails to validate that the requested data length or offset falls within the allocated buffer boundaries before performing read operations. This allows attackers to specify values that cause the application to access memory outside the intended range.

Attack Vector

The vulnerability is exploitable over the network by unauthenticated attackers. An attacker sends a specially crafted request to the vulnerable CUDA-Q endpoint containing malformed parameters designed to trigger the out-of-bounds read condition. The request manipulates size or offset values to cause the application to read beyond buffer boundaries.

The attack does not require any privileges or user interaction, making it particularly dangerous for exposed CUDA-Q deployments. Successful exploitation could allow attackers to extract sensitive information from memory or cause service disruption.

For detailed technical information, refer to the NVIDIA Support Article.

Detection Methods for CVE-2026-24189

Indicators of Compromise

• Unusual network traffic patterns or malformed requests targeting CUDA-Q endpoints
• Application crashes or unexpected restarts of CUDA-Q services
• Memory access violations or segmentation faults in application logs
• Anomalous response sizes or timing from CUDA-Q endpoints

Detection Strategies

• Monitor CUDA-Q service logs for error messages indicating memory access violations or boundary errors
• Implement network-level monitoring for suspicious request patterns targeting CUDA-Q endpoints
• Deploy intrusion detection signatures to identify malformed requests with abnormal size parameters
• Use application performance monitoring to detect unusual memory consumption or crash patterns

Monitoring Recommendations

• Enable verbose logging on CUDA-Q deployments to capture detailed request information
• Set up alerts for service restarts or crash events associated with CUDA-Q processes
• Monitor network traffic for requests to CUDA-Q endpoints from untrusted sources
• Implement rate limiting on CUDA-Q endpoints to reduce attack surface

How to Mitigate CVE-2026-24189

Immediate Actions Required

• Review the NVIDIA Support Article for official patch information
• Restrict network access to CUDA-Q endpoints to trusted hosts only
• Implement network segmentation to isolate CUDA-Q deployments from untrusted networks
• Monitor for exploitation attempts while awaiting patch deployment

Patch Information

NVIDIA has released information regarding this vulnerability. Administrators should consult the NVIDIA Support Article for official patch details and update instructions. Apply the vendor-provided patches as soon as possible to address this vulnerability.

Workarounds

• Implement firewall rules to restrict access to CUDA-Q endpoints from trusted IP addresses only
• Deploy a web application firewall (WAF) with rules to filter malformed requests
• Consider disabling the vulnerable endpoint if not required for operations until patches can be applied
• Use network segmentation to limit exposure of CUDA-Q services to internal networks

# Example: Restrict network access to CUDA-Q service using iptables
# Allow only trusted internal network (adjust IP range as needed)
iptables -A INPUT -p tcp --dport <cuda-q-port> -s 10.0.0.0/8 -j ACCEPT
iptables -A INPUT -p tcp --dport <cuda-q-port> -j DROP