CVE-2026-24199: Nvidia GPU Display Driver DOS Vulnerability

CVE-2026-24199 Overview

CVE-2026-24199 is a race condition vulnerability in the NVIDIA Display Driver for Linux. The flaw resides in a kernel module where compiler or processor memory instruction reordering allows a local user to trigger inconsistent state. Successful exploitation can lead to denial of service on the affected host. The vulnerability requires local access with low privileges and high attack complexity, which limits remote exploitation scenarios. NVIDIA has published a support advisory addressing the issue across multiple driver branches affecting GeForce, NVS, Quadro, RTX, and Tesla product lines.

Critical Impact

A local low-privileged user can exploit a kernel-module race condition to cause denial of service against systems running the affected NVIDIA Linux display driver.

Affected Products

• NVIDIA GPU Display Driver for Linux (GeForce, NVS, Quadro, RTX, Tesla branches)
• NVIDIA RTX and Quadro Professional Visualization drivers on Linux
• NVIDIA Tesla Data Center drivers on Linux

Discovery Timeline

• 2026-05-26 - CVE-2026-24199 published to NVD
• 2026-05-27 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2026-24199

Vulnerability Analysis

The vulnerability is classified as a race condition [CWE-362] inside an NVIDIA Linux kernel driver module. The defect arises because shared kernel state is accessed without sufficient memory barriers or synchronization primitives. Both compiler optimizations and CPU out-of-order execution can reorder loads and stores around the critical section. When two execution contexts interleave, the kernel observes an inconsistent view of driver state, which can cause invalid pointer use or improper resource handling.

The attack vector is local. The attacker must already hold a valid account on the host and interact with the driver through device file interfaces such as /dev/nvidia*. Exploitation does not require user interaction but does require timing-sensitive triggering, reflected in the high attack complexity rating. Successful exploitation produces a kernel-level fault that disrupts the graphics subsystem and can crash the host.

Root Cause

The root cause is missing or insufficient memory ordering guarantees in a concurrent code path within the kernel module. Without proper barriers, the compiler and processor are free to reorder reads and writes, breaking the implicit assumption that operations within a critical section are observed atomically by other threads. This manifests as a TOCTOU-style window where the state checked by one thread is mutated by another before it is used.

Attack Vector

A local authenticated user opens the NVIDIA driver device interface and issues a sequence of ioctl calls from multiple threads or processes. By racing these calls against driver state transitions, the attacker creates the conditions for the reordered memory operations to be observed in an unsafe sequence. The result is a kernel panic or driver hang affecting availability. Confidentiality and integrity are not impacted according to the published CVSS vector.

No public proof-of-concept code or exploit module is available for this issue at the time of disclosure. Technical reproduction details have not been released by the vendor.

Detection Methods for CVE-2026-24199

Indicators of Compromise

• Repeated kernel oops or panic entries in dmesg or /var/log/kern.log referencing nvidia kernel module symbols
• Unexpected X server or Wayland compositor crashes correlated with NVIDIA driver fault traces
• Sudden GPU device unavailability or nvidia-smi reporting an unresponsive driver after multi-threaded workloads from non-administrative users

Detection Strategies

• Inventory installed NVIDIA driver versions across Linux fleets and compare against the fixed versions listed in the NVIDIA security bulletin
• Monitor for processes opening /dev/nvidia* device nodes from unexpected user accounts or service contexts
• Alert on kernel crash signatures that include NVIDIA driver stack frames followed by host restarts

Monitoring Recommendations

• Ingest kernel and dmesg logs into a centralized logging or SIEM pipeline for correlation across hosts
• Track GPU driver version drift as part of vulnerability management baselines
• Establish behavioral baselines for which user accounts and workloads legitimately interact with the GPU driver

How to Mitigate CVE-2026-24199

Immediate Actions Required

• Apply the updated NVIDIA Linux display driver versions referenced in the NVIDIA Security Bulletin
• Restrict local interactive and SSH access to systems running affected GPU drivers to trusted users only
• Audit group membership for video and any custom groups granting access to /dev/nvidia* device nodes

Patch Information

NVIDIA has released fixed driver builds across the affected branches. Refer to the NVIDIA Support Article for the exact version numbers per driver branch and product family. Additional details are available in the NVD entry for CVE-2026-24199 and the CVE.org record.

Workarounds

• Limit access to the NVIDIA device nodes by tightening file permissions on /dev/nvidia* to only trusted service accounts
• Disable or unload the NVIDIA kernel module on hosts where the GPU is not required until patching is completed
• Apply mandatory access control policies (SELinux or AppArmor) to confine which processes can issue ioctls against the GPU driver

# Verify installed NVIDIA driver version and tighten device node access
nvidia-smi --query-gpu=driver_version --format=csv
ls -l /dev/nvidia*
chmod 0660 /dev/nvidia*
chown root:video /dev/nvidia*