Introduction
A single vulnerable virtual machine can jeopardize the security of an entire GPU-accelerated data center. CVE-2025-23283, a stack buffer overflow in NVIDIA's vGPU software for Linux-style hypervisors, allows a malicious guest to potentially execute code or escalate privileges on the host. This vulnerability is especially relevant for organizations running multi-tenant environments with GPU sharing, such as cloud providers and enterprises with virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI).
About NVIDIA and vGPU: NVIDIA is the dominant force in GPU hardware and virtualization, powering AI, graphics, and compute workloads globally. Its vGPU platform enables multiple virtual machines to share a single physical GPU, making it foundational for modern cloud, research, and enterprise environments. With millions of deployments and integration across leading hypervisors, vulnerabilities in this stack have broad, real-world impact.
Technical Information
CVE-2025-23283 is a stack-based buffer overflow (CWE-121) in the Virtual GPU Manager component of NVIDIA vGPU software for Linux-style hypervisors. The vulnerability is triggered when a guest VM sends crafted input that the Virtual GPU Manager fails to properly bounds-check. This allows the attacker to overwrite stack memory, potentially corrupting return addresses or function pointers.
Key technical points:
- The flaw resides in the Virtual GPU Manager, which runs with elevated privileges on the hypervisor host.
- Exploitation is possible by a guest VM with low privileges, requiring no user interaction.
- Attack complexity is low. The attacker can send specially crafted GPU operation requests or malformed command buffers to trigger the overflow.
- Successful exploitation can result in arbitrary code execution, privilege escalation, denial of service, information disclosure, or data tampering on the host.
- The vulnerability affects the isolation boundary between guest and host, which is critical in multi-tenant and cloud environments.
No public code snippets or detailed exploit code are available in the referenced materials.
Patch Information
NVIDIA has released security updates to address CVE-2025-23283 and related vulnerabilities. Apply the following versions to mitigate risk:
Windows Drivers:
- GeForce: 577.00
- NVIDIA RTX, Quadro, NVS: 573.48
- Tesla: 573.48
Linux Drivers:
- GeForce: 575.64.05
- NVIDIA RTX, Quadro, NVS: 575.64.05
- Tesla: 570.172.08
vGPU Software:
- Guest Driver (Windows): 573.48
- Guest Driver (Linux): 570.172.08
- Virtual GPU Manager: 570.172.07
Download updates from the NVIDIA Driver Downloads page and the NVIDIA Licensing Portal.
Detection Methods
Detection for CVE-2025-23283 is supported by Tenable's Nessus (Plugin ID 243281). Recommended detection steps:
- Vulnerability Scanning: Use Nessus or similar tools to identify vulnerable NVIDIA vGPU installations.
- Monitor Guest Behavior: Watch for abnormal guest VM activity, such as unexpected crashes or memory spikes.
- Log Analysis: Regularly review system and application logs for anomalies.
- Intrusion Detection: Ensure IDS solutions are updated with the latest signatures for NVIDIA vGPU vulnerabilities.
- Security Audits: Conduct regular security audits and penetration tests to evaluate detection effectiveness.
Reference: Nessus Plugin 243281
Affected Systems and Versions
- NVIDIA vGPU for Linux-style hypervisors (including Citrix Hypervisor, Linux with KVM, Red Hat Enterprise Linux with KVM, Ubuntu, VMware vSphere)
- Vulnerable Virtual GPU Manager versions prior to 570.172.07
- Guest Driver (Linux) versions prior to 570.172.08
- Guest Driver (Windows) versions prior to 573.48
- GeForce (Windows) versions prior to 577.00
- NVIDIA RTX, Quadro, NVS (Windows) versions prior to 573.48
- Tesla (Windows) versions prior to 573.48
- GeForce (Linux) versions prior to 575.64.05
- NVIDIA RTX, Quadro, NVS (Linux) versions prior to 575.64.05
- Tesla (Linux) versions prior to 570.172.08
Vendor Security History
NVIDIA has previously addressed multiple vulnerabilities in its vGPU stack, including buffer overflows and privilege escalation issues. Security advisories are regularly published, and patches are typically released in a timely manner. The company maintains a dedicated Product Security Incident Response Team (PSIRT) and collaborates with hypervisor vendors to coordinate security updates.