Attack ChainAIDerived
Hypothetical attack flow derived from CVE metadata – not a confirmed exploit chain
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AccessAuthenticate as local/guest user
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DeliveryIssue crafted call to kernel-mode GPU driver
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ExploitTrigger NULL pointer dereference (CWE-476)
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ExecutionCrash kernel driver / potential privilege escalation
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ImpactDenial of service or host impact
Vulnerability Assessment
| Weakness |
CWE
OWASP Top 10:2025
A10:2025 - Mishandling of Exceptional Conditions
ASVS 5.0
V16 - Security Logging and Error Handling Null pointer safety, defensive checks
MITRE ATT&CK
1 technique across 1 tactic: Impact The technique list with ATT&CK links and the kill-chain view is part of the Basic plan and up. |
| Exploitation Conditions | Requires local access as an authenticated low-privileged user (PR:L, AV:L, UI:N) on a Linux system running the affected NVIDIA GPU Display Driver, with the ability to invoke the kernel-mode driver layer (e.g., via device ioctls). The 'Guest Driver' and 'Virtual GPU Manager' tags indicate the vGPU path is in scope, so a guest VM in a virtualized/vGPU deployment is a valid attack position. Limiting factors: no remote vector (not network-exploitable), the attacker must already have a local foothold or guest session, and the reliably achievable outcome is a driver/kernel crash (DoS) - higher impacts such as code execution are not confirmed and would be more complex to achieve. |
| Impact | This is an NVIDIA-reported vulnerability (bulletin 5861) with no CISA KEV listing, no EPSS score provided, and no public exploit identified at time of analysis, so the risk is theoretical rather than demonstrated. The CVSS 3.1 vector (AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H, base 7.8) correctly reflects a local, low-privilege attack surface - the attacker must already be an authenticated local user able to issue calls to the kernel-mode GPU driver - which meaningfully caps real-world risk versus a network-facing flaw. The root cause is a NULL pointer dereference (CWE-476), whose most reliable and natural outcome is denial of service (kernel crash/host hang); the vendor's boilerplate 'might lead to code execution, escalation of privileges, information disclosure, and data tampering' with a full C:H/I:H/A:H rating is optimistic for a NULL-deref class bug - I DISAGREE that confidentiality/integrity impact is realistically High, as promoting a NULL deref to code execution is typically high-complexity and not guaranteed. The 'Guest Driver' / 'Virtual GPU Manager' tags indicate a vGPU/virtualization path, which raises stakes in multi-tenant VDI and cloud-GPU environments where a guest crash could affect the host. Net: a genuine but medium-priority local issue for shared/virtualized GPU deployments; low priority for single-user workstations. No conflicting signals in the vector itself, but verify the true achievable impact (DoS-only vs. full RCE) against NVIDIA's advisory. |
| Exploit ScenarioDerived | A low-privileged local user (or a guest VM in a vGPU deployment) on a Linux host with the NVIDIA GPU driver issues a crafted ioctl or API call to the kernel-mode layer that triggers a NULL pointer dereference. This crashes the driver/kernel, causing denial of service to the host or other tenants; the vendor states it might be leveraged further toward privilege escalation or code execution. No public exploit code has been identified. |
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Alert meAnalysisAIv1 – Sep 30, 2026
A NULL pointer dereference in the kernel-mode layer of the NVIDIA GPU Display Driver for Linux allows a locally present, low-privileged authenticated user to crash the driver - and potentially the kernel - by supplying a crafted request to the kernel-mode driver layer (for example via device ioctls). Affected platforms span the GeForce, RTX/Quadro/NVS, and Tesla driver lines on Linux, and the 'Guest Driver' / 'Virtual GPU Manager' tags indicate the vGPU path is also in scope, so a guest session inside a virtualized vGPU deployment is a valid attack position. The vendor claims the flaw 'might' lead to code execution, privilege escalation, information disclosure, and data tampering, but the reliably achievable outcome is a denial-of-service crash; there is no CISA KEV listing, no EPSS score provided, and no public exploit identified at time of analysis.
RemediationAI
Patch availability is not confirmed from the supplied data; there is no exact fix version in the intelligence provided, so the authoritative step is to review NVIDIA security bulletin 5861 at https://github.com/NVIDIA/product-security/tree/main/2026/5861 and apply the patched driver release NVIDIA lists for each affected branch (GeForce, RTX/Quadro/NVS, Tesla, and the vGPU Guest Driver / Virtual GPU Manager components), then verify the installed version with nvidia-smi against the bulletin. Until an upgraded driver is deployed, compensating controls with real trade-offs are: restrict access to the NVIDIA device nodes (/dev/nvidia* and the vGPU guest driver interfaces) to trusted, unprivileged users or dedicated groups using file permissions/udev rules, which reduces the local attack surface but breaks multi-user or shared-workstation GPU access; disable or blacklist the kernel module where the GPU is not required (for example on systems using only software rendering or non-NVIDIA accelerators), which removes the vulnerable code path entirely at the cost of losing GPU acceleration; in vGPU environments, disable the vGPU guest driver on guests that do not need GPU passthrough so the vulnerable kernel-mode path is never loaded, at the cost of losing virtual GPU functionality; and enforce least privilege so that unprivileged users cannot open the NVIDIA device nodes, which lowers the number of actors who can trigger the NULL dereference but does not remove the bug. Because exploitation is local-only (AV:L, PR:L) and the confirmed effect is a driver/kernel denial of service, prioritize patching on multi-user Linux hosts and vGPU deployments where untrusted users or guest VMs share the GPU driver.
Affected VersionsENISA
Affected Packages
Source: OSV (Open Source Vulnerabilities)
Affects your stack
Affects 3 packages in euvd
Checking this CVE against your own stacks and servers is part of the Basic plan and up.
Technical ContextAI · show details
CWE-476 (NULL Pointer Dereference) in the kernel-mode portion of the NVIDIA GPU Display Driver for Linux. The vulnerable component sits in kernel space, where user-supplied parameters - reached through the driver's character-device interfaces and ioctl handlers - are dereferenced without adequate validation, allowing an unvalidated pointer path to result in a NULL dereference, typically a kernel oops/panic. Because the code executes at kernel privilege, a memory-safety failure of this class is a candidate for exploitation beyond simple crash (the vendor's description mentions code execution, escalation of privileges, information disclosure and data tampering), but those outcomes require additional primitives and are not demonstrated or confirmed; the independently assessed vector (AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N, C:L/I:L/A:H) reflects high attack complexity and only partial confidentiality/integrity impact. The CPE data enumerates the NVIDIA GeForce, RTX/Quadro/NVS, and Tesla driver families as the affected products, and the inclusion of 'Guest Driver' and 'Virtual GPU Manager' tags indicates the virtualization/vGPU driver stack is part of the in-scope attack surface, meaning both bare-metal Linux hosts and guest VMs in vGPU deployments are affected. No specific vulnerable or fixed driver version range is given in the supplied CPE strings (all version fields are wildcards); NVIDIA security bulletin 5861 (referenced via the NVIDIA product-security GitHub repository) is the authoritative source for the exact affected and patched driver releases.
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Severity by source
AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Local low-priv trigger (AV:L/PR:L); NULL deref reliably yields DoS (A:H), while code-exec-derived C/I are complex and uncertain, so AC:H and C:L/I:L rather than vendor's C:H/I:H.
Primary rating from Vendor (nvidia).
CVSS VectorVendor: nvidia
DescriptionCVE.org
NVIDIA GPU Display Driver for Linux contains a vulnerability in the kernel mode layer where a user could cause a NULL pointer dereference. A successful exploit of this vulnerability might lead to code execution, denial of service, escalation of privileges, information disclosure, and data tampering.
Articles & Coverage 3
Executive ViewAI
NVIDIA GPU Display Driver for Linux (affecting GeForce, RTX/Quadro/NVS, Tesla, and vGPU deployments) contains a high-severity flaw that allows a locally present, low-privileged user to crash the kernel-mode driver and potentially the kernel, causing a denial-of-service condition. With no vendor patch available, organizations relying on these GPUs for graphics, compute, or virtualized desktops face unplanned outages, degraded availability, and potential multi-tenant disruption. Leadership should prioritize mitigation and monitoring to protect critical systems until a fix is released.
No vendor patch available. Interim mitigations include restricting local access to GPU device files, enforcing strict file permissions, using security modules to confine ioctl access, monitoring for kernel crashes, and in virtualized environments, isolating guests from host GPU management and limiting guest GPU passthrough.
Threat Intelligence Overview
How this decision was reached
The engine reads each signal below and applies a fixed list of rules from top to bottom. The first rule that matches sets the recommended action – like a statement, every line is shown.
What every action level means
SSVC AssessmentENISA
Priority Score
Attack Technique
A null pointer dereference occurs when a program attempts to access memory through a pointer that has been set to NULL (address 0x0).
Information disclosure occurs when an application unintentionally exposes sensitive data that aids attackers in reconnaissance or directly compromises security.
Remote Code Execution represents the critical moment when an attacker successfully runs arbitrary code on a target system without physical access.
Denial of Service attacks render applications or systems unavailable by overwhelming resources or triggering failure conditions.
Local privilege escalation and code execution in the NVIDIA Display Driver for Linux (GeForce, RTX/Quadro/NVS, Tesla, an
An out-of-bounds read in the kernel-mode layer of NVIDIA GPU Display Driver on Windows and Linux allows a local, authent
An out-of-bounds write in NVIDIA NVAPI for Windows allows a locally authenticated attacker holding standard user privile
Type confusion in the kernel-mode layer of the NVIDIA GPU Display Driver for Linux allows a local low-privileged user (C
Local privilege escalation in NVIDIA GPU Display Driver for Windows (CUDA driver component) allows an authenticated atta
Local privilege escalation in NVIDIA Display Driver for Windows allows an authenticated low-privileged user to trigger a
Local privilege escalation and potential code execution in NVIDIA GPU Display Driver for Windows and Linux arise from a
Local privilege escalation in NVIDIA Display Driver for Windows and Linux allows an unprivileged local attacker to trigg
Local privilege escalation and memory corruption in NVIDIA GPU Display Driver on Windows and Linux, affecting GeForce, R
Local privilege escalation in the NVIDIA GPU Display Driver for Linux allows an authenticated, unprivileged user to trig
Local privilege escalation in the kernel-mode layer of the NVIDIA GPU Display Driver for Linux allows an unprivileged lo
Privilege escalation in NVIDIA's GPU Display Driver for Windows lets a local, low-privileged authenticated user bypass a
EUVD-2026-90117
GHSA-69cx-mcgh-8h8g
NVD
CVE.org
EPSS
Vulnrichment
Exploit-DB