CVE-2026-47518
Description
A flaw was found in the NVIDIA GPU Display Driver. An incorrect permission assignment for a critical resource in a secure microcontroller component allows an attacker with privileged local access to modify restricted protected memory. This vulnerability may allow an attacker to achieve arbitrary code execution and further privilege escalation on the host system.
Statement
On Red Hat Enterprise Linux systems deploying proprietary NVIDIA GPU display drivers, this vulnerability is rated as Moderate impact because exploitation requires pre-existing local administrative privileges and satisfies complex execution conditions, preventing remote or unprivileged abuse. Although tampering with restricted microcontroller memory can lead to code execution and system compromise, an attacker must already possess elevated permissions on the host to interact with the vulnerable hardware component. Standard installations without dedicated NVIDIA hardware or systems running open-source drivers are not affected by this flaw.
Mitigation
Prevent the NVIDIA GPU display driver kernel module from loading by blacklisting it in the modprobe configuration:
1. Create a configuration file to blacklist the driver module:
# echo "blacklist nvidia" > /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-nvidia.conf
# echo "install nvidia /bin/false" >> /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-nvidia.conf
2. If additional NVIDIA driver modules are present (such as nvidia_modeset or nvidia_uvm), append them to the blacklist configuration:
# echo "blacklist nvidia_modeset" >> /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-nvidia.conf
# echo "install nvidia_modeset /bin/false" >> /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-nvidia.conf
3. Warning: A system restart is required for changes to take effect and to ensure currently loaded driver modules are unloaded from memory.
Caveat: Applying this mitigation will disable NVIDIA GPU hardware acceleration, display outputs, and GPU compute capabilities across the system.
Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) Score Details
Info alert:Important note
CVSS scores for open source components depend on vendor-specific factors (e.g. version or build chain). Therefore, Red Hat's score and impact rating can be different from NVD and other vendors. Red Hat remains the authoritative CVE Naming Authority (CNA) source for its products and services (see Red Hat classifications).
The following CVSS metrics and score provided are preliminary and subject to review.
CVSS v3 Score Breakdown
| Red Hat | NVD | cve.org | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Base Score | 6 | N/A | 6 |
| Attack Vector | Local | N/A | Local |
| Attack Complexity | High | N/A | High |
| Privileges Required | High | N/A | High |
| User Interaction | None | N/A | None |
| Scope | Unchanged | N/A | Unchanged |
| Confidentiality | High | N/A | High |
| Integrity Impact | High | N/A | High |
| Availability Impact | Low | N/A | Low |
Vector
Red Hat: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:L
cve.org: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:L
Understanding the Weakness (CWE)
Access Control
Technical Impact: Gain Privileges or Assume Identity
A user can access restricted functionality and/or sensitive information that may include administrative functionality and user accounts.
Frequently Asked Questions
Not sure what something means? Check out our Security Glossary.
Want to get errata notifications? Sign up here.
