Attack ChainAIDerived
Hypothetical attack flow derived from CVE metadata – not a confirmed exploit chain
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AccessGain unprivileged local/guest code execution
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DeliveryIssue crafted calls to NVIDIA driver interface
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ExploitTrigger use-after-free on driver object
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ExecutionReclaim and control freed memory
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PersistExecute code in privileged driver context
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ImpactEscalate privileges / tamper data / DoS
Vulnerability Assessment
| Weakness |
CWE
ASVS 5.0
V15 - Secure Coding and Architecture Memory lifecycle management
MITRE ATT&CK
2 techniques across 2 tactics: Execution, Privilege Escalation The technique list with ATT&CK links and the kill-chain view is part of the Basic plan and up. |
| Exploitation Conditions | Exploitation requires the attacker to already have unprivileged local code execution on a system running the NVIDIA GPU Display Driver (Windows or Linux) for an affected GeForce, RTX/Quadro/NVS, or Tesla product; the 'Guest Driver' tag indicates the driver may also be reachable from within a virtualized guest, making guest-to-host or guest-context escalation relevant. No authentication beyond a normal local user account is needed and no user interaction is required (PR:L/UI:N), but the AV:L constraint means there is no remote/network exploitation path - an attacker must first obtain foothold code execution. No special non-default configuration is called out beyond simply having the vulnerable driver installed and the GPU device interface accessible to the calling user/guest. |
| Impact | This is a genuine local privilege-escalation priority rather than a high-CVSS-but-low-risk paper finding. The CVSS 3.1 vector (AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H, 7.8 HIGH) describes a use-after-free (CWE-416) reachable by an already-present unprivileged local user with low attack complexity and no user interaction, yielding full confidentiality/integrity/availability impact - the classic profile of a kernel-mode GPU driver bug used to escalate from a normal account (or a sandboxed/guest context) to code execution in a privileged driver context. No EPSS score, KEV listing, or public POC was provided in the input, so per the signals available this is 'no public exploit identified at time of analysis'; the absence of KEV/EPSS does not lower the intrinsic severity but means widespread opportunistic exploitation is not currently evidenced. The dominant limiting factor is the AV:L requirement: an attacker must already be able to run code on the host (local login, compromised low-priv process, or a VM guest given the 'Guest Driver' tag), so this is not a remote/network-facing exposure. No conflicting signals were detected between the description and the CVSS vector - both consistently indicate local, low-privilege, high-impact memory corruption. |
| Exploit ScenarioDerived | A low-privileged local user (or malicious code running inside a guest VM using a GPU pass-through/guest driver) submits crafted requests to the vulnerable NVIDIA display driver interface to trigger a use-after-free, then grooms the freed kernel/driver object to gain control over execution. No public exploit code was provided in the source data, but UAF flaws in GPU drivers are a well-established local-privilege-escalation primitive. Because AV:L/PR:L/UI:N, the attacker needs only existing unprivileged code execution and no victim interaction. |
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Alert meAnalysisAIv1 – Sep 30, 2026
A use-after-free (CWE-416) in the NVIDIA GPU Display Driver for Windows and Linux lets a local unprivileged user free and then re-reference a driver-managed memory object, potentially yielding code execution in kernel context, privilege escalation, data tampering, denial of service, and information disclosure. The flaw is rated CVSS 3.1 7.8 (AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H) and affects GeForce, RTX/Quadro/NVS, and Tesla product lines; the 'Guest Driver' tag indicates the vulnerable path may also be reachable from inside a virtualized guest, making guest-to-host or guest-context escalation a relevant scenario. Exploitation requires that the attacker already hold a local foothold with normal user privileges on a host with the affected driver installed and the GPU device interface exposed - there is no remote/network vector - and at time of analysis no public exploit code and no confirmed active exploitation have been identified, so this is a priority local privilege-escalation issue rather than an imminent, opportunistically exploited threat.
RemediationAI
The provided data does not include an exact fixed driver version, so no specific patch number can be cited here; the primary action is to consult NVIDIA's product-security advisory at https://github.com/NVIDIA/product-security/tree/main/2026/5861 (cross-referenced by the CVE record at https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-47516 and https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-47516) and apply the updated GPU display driver for the affected GeForce, RTX/Quadro/NVS, or Tesla branch as soon as NVIDIA publishes it, treating any listed driver build as the authoritative fix. Until that update is deployed, the most effective compensating control is to reduce who can reach the vulnerable driver surface: restrict local accounts and group membership that grant access to the NVIDIA device interfaces (the driver device objects on Windows and /dev/nvidia* nodes on Linux) to trusted users, accepting that this breaks legitimate GPU access for the excluded accounts, and on servers that do not require a GPU, blacklist or unload the driver module to eliminate the attack surface entirely - a trade-off that removes hardware acceleration. For virtualization and vGPU hosts, restrict which guests are permitted GPU pass-through and avoid running untrusted guest workloads on hosts with the affected driver, since the guest-driver reachability of this flaw makes guest-to-host escalation a realistic concern; monitoring for unusual IOCTL patterns or crashes originating from nvidia driver processes can provide limited detection but should not be relied on as a substitute for patching. Note that no public exploit code and no confirmed active exploitation were identified at time of analysis, so these controls can be scheduled with normal change management rather than emergency urgency, but the local privilege-escalation impact still warrants prompt patching on multi-user and virtualized systems.
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
The root cause class is CWE-416, use-after-free: a memory object allocated by the NVIDIA kernel-mode display driver is released while a stale pointer or handle to it survives, so a subsequent operation - typically issued through a driver IOCTL or the exposed GPU device interface - dereferences reclaimed memory that the attacker may partially control. Because these driver components run at high privilege (kernel mode on Windows/Linux), a controlled dangling reference can be turned into kernel code execution, memory corruption, or information disclosure rather than a simple crash. The CPE data enumerates the affected families as nvidia:geforce, nvidia:rtx_quadro_nvs, and nvidia:tesla, with version fields left wildcarded in the supplied feed, so the precise driver branch numbers must be read from the NVIDIA product-security advisory rather than inferred here. The PR:L/UI:N vector component confirms that only a standard unprivileged local session is required and no user interaction is needed, while AV:L confirms the constraint to local access; the 'Guest Driver' tag and virtualization relevance imply that in GPU-passthrough or vGPU deployments the same dangling-pointer condition may be triggerable from within a guest, where privilege boundaries between guest and host make the escalation impact more severe.
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Severity by source
AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Local unprivileged user triggers a driver use-after-free with no interaction, giving code execution in a privileged context, so AV:L/PR:L and full C:H/I:H/A:H.
Primary rating from Vendor (nvidia).
CVSS VectorVendor: nvidia
DescriptionCVE.org
NVIDIA GPU Display Driver for Windows and Linux contains a vulnerability where an unprivileged user could cause a use-after-free. A successful exploit of this vulnerability might lead to code execution, escalation of privileges, data tampering, denial of service, and information disclosure.
Articles & Coverage 3
Executive ViewAI
NVIDIA GPU Display Drivers for Windows and Linux (GeForce, RTX/Quadro/NVS, and Tesla) are affected by a high-severity use-after-free vulnerability (CVE-2026-47516) that enables an authenticated local user to execute code in kernel context, potentially leading to privilege escalation, data tampering, and denial of service. With no vendor-released patch identified at time of analysis and no public exploit identified at time of analysis, organizations using these GPUs in endpoints, servers, or virtualized environments face a persistent local escalation risk that cannot be remediated by standard patching. Leadership should prioritize immediate compensating controls because the flaw affects critical GPU-accelerated workloads and could be exploited by malicious insiders or attackers who have already gained a low-privileged foothold.
No vendor-released patch identified at time of analysis; interim mitigations include restricting local interactive access to trusted users, enforcing least privilege, disabling unnecessary GPU device interfaces, evaluating disabling GPU passthrough in virtualized environments, implementing application allowlisting, and monitoring for privilege escalation attempts.
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
Use-after-free vulnerabilities occur when a program continues to access memory through a pointer after that memory has been deallocated.
Memory corruption occurs when a program writes data beyond the boundaries of allocated memory regions or accesses memory in unintended ways, violating the integrity of the process's address space.
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
Same weakness CWE-416 – Use After Free
View allVendor StatusVendor
SUSE
Severity: Important| Product | Status |
|---|---|
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 15 SP7 | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 15 SP7 | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Micro 5.3 | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Micro 5.4 | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Micro 5.5 | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP7 | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP7 | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Module for Public Cloud 15 SP7 | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP7 | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP7 | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 16.0 | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 16.0 | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 16.1 | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 15 SP7 | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 15 SP7 | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP applications 16.0 | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP applications 16.0 | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP applications 16.1 | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Micro 6.0 | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Micro 6.0 | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Micro 6.0 | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Micro 6.1 | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Micro 6.1 | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Micro 6.1 | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Micro 6.2 | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Micro 6.2 | Affected |
| openSUSE Leap 16.0 | Affected |
| openSUSE Leap 16.0 | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP4-LTSS | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP5 | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP5-LTSS | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP4 | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP5 | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP6 | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP4 | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP4-LTSS | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP5 | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP5-LTSS | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP6 | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP6-LTSS | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP6-LTSS | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 15 SP4 | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 15 SP5 | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 15 SP6 | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 15 SP6 | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 15 SP4 | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 15 SP5 | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 15 SP6 | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP4 | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP4-ESPOS | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP5-ESPOS | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Module for Public Cloud 15 SP6 | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Real Time 15 SP4 | Affected |
| SUSE Manager Proxy 4.3 | Affected |
| SUSE Manager Proxy LTS 4.3 | Affected |
| SUSE Manager Retail Branch Server 4.3 | Affected |
| SUSE Manager Retail Branch Server LTS 4.3 | Affected |
| SUSE Manager Server 4.3 | Affected |
| SUSE Manager Server LTS 4.3 | Affected |
| openSUSE Leap 15.4 | Affected |
| openSUSE Leap 15.5 | Affected |
| openSUSE Leap 15.6 | Affected |
| openSUSE Leap 15.6 | Affected |
| openSUSE Leap Micro 5.5 | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for NVIDIA 16.1 | Affected |
EUVD-2026-90101
GHSA-6hjm-4f9p-hxg8
NVD
CVE.org
EPSS
Vulnrichment
Exploit-DB