Introduction
Privilege escalation on Linux systems running NVIDIA GPUs can enable attackers to bypass all user-level security controls, tamper with system data, and execute arbitrary code with root privileges. The October 2025 disclosure of CVE-2025-23282 highlights a high-severity race condition in the NVIDIA Display Driver for Linux, affecting a wide range of consumer, professional, and data center deployments [1][19][22].
NVIDIA is the dominant vendor in discrete GPU hardware, with its drivers deployed in millions of systems worldwide, from gaming PCs to AI clusters. The security of NVIDIA's Linux drivers is critical for enterprise, research, and consumer environments alike.
Technical Information
CVE-2025-23282 is a race condition vulnerability in the NVIDIA Display Driver for Linux. The flaw resides in the kernel driver component, where improper synchronization allows multiple threads or processes to access shared resources without adequate locking [1][19][22]. This creates a timing window that a local attacker can exploit to escalate privileges. The vulnerability is classified under CWE-415 (Double Free) and CWE-362 (Race Condition), indicating that the flaw likely involves unsafe memory management where a resource is freed multiple times due to concurrent access [11][26][29][46].
Exploitation requires local access and precise timing to manipulate the driver's state during security checks or memory operations. Attackers may use multiple threads to trigger the vulnerable code path, aiming to win the race between security validation and resource use. The impact includes privilege escalation, code execution, data tampering, denial of service, and information disclosure [1][19][22]. No public code snippets or proof of concept are available. The vulnerability is difficult to detect through standard testing due to its timing-dependent nature and may only manifest under specific system loads or configurations [27][38].
Affected Systems and Versions
CVE-2025-23282 affects the NVIDIA Display Driver for Linux in the following branches and versions:
- R580 branch: All versions prior to 580.95.05
- R570 branch: All versions prior to 570.195.03
- R535 branch: All versions prior to 535.274.02
Both consumer (GeForce), professional (RTX, Quadro, NVS), and data center (Tesla) products are affected. The vulnerability is present in default configurations of the affected driver versions [1][19][22][31].
Vendor Security History
NVIDIA has a history of privilege escalation, memory corruption, and race condition vulnerabilities in its Linux driver stack. In 2025, the company issued several security bulletins for related issues, including CVE-2025-23280 (use-after-free), CVE-2025-23279 (race condition in the .run installer), and multiple privilege escalation flaws [9][12][19][22][31]. NVIDIA's Product Security Incident Response Team coordinates responsible disclosure and typically provides patches at the time of public advisory [4][13][34].
