CVE-2026-47533
Description
A flaw was found in nvidia-driver. A local attacker with administrative privileges can trigger an array indexing error within the kernel-mode driver layer. Successful exploitation could allow the attacker to execute arbitrary code, escalate system privileges, access sensitive data, or cause a denial of service (DoS).
Statement
This vulnerability is rated as Moderate severity for Red Hat Enterprise Linux because exploitation requires local access with administrative privileges (PR:H) to interact with the kernel-mode driver, significantly constraining the attack surface. The flaw involves improper boundary checking on array indices within the proprietary NVIDIA display driver, potentially enabling an already privileged local adversary to execute arbitrary code in kernel space, corrupt memory, or cause a system crash. Systems that do not have NVIDIA GPU hardware or do not load the proprietary driver modules remain unaffected.
Mitigation
If NVIDIA GPU acceleration is not required on the host, prevent the kernel module from loading by configuring modprobe:
1. Create a configuration file to blacklist and disable autoloading of the module:
echo "blacklist nvidia" > /etc/modprobe.d/disable-nvidia.conf
echo "install nvidia /bin/false" >> /etc/modprobe.d/disable-nvidia.conf
2. Attempt to unload the module if currently active:
modprobe -r nvidia
Caveats and Warnings:
- Disabling the NVIDIA kernel module prevents the proprietary driver from functioning, which disables GPU display rendering, 3D acceleration, and compute frameworks (such as CUDA).
- If the module is actively in use by graphical sessions or running processes, unloading it may fail and a full system reboot will be required for the configuration to take effect. Rebooting or unloading the module will terminate active GPU workloads and graphical sessions.
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 | 6.7 | N/A | 6.7 |
| Attack Vector | Local | N/A | Local |
| Attack Complexity | Low | N/A | Low |
| 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 | High | N/A | High |
Vector
Red Hat: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
cve.org: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
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