CVE-2026-47557
Description
A flaw was found in the NVIDIA GPU display driver. An unprivileged local user could exploit a vulnerability in the kernel mode layer to cause a NULL pointer dereference (an invalid memory access). Successful exploitation can lead to a system crash, resulting in a Denial of Service (DoS).
Statement
This vulnerability is rated as Moderate because exploitation requires local access by an authenticated user and is limited to causing a denial of service through a system crash, without compromising confidentiality or integrity. On Red Hat Enterprise Linux systems, the proprietary NVIDIA GPU driver is not installed or enabled by default and is only present when specialized NVIDIA hardware and corresponding driver packages are explicitly deployed. Consequently, exposure is restricted to multi-user environments utilizing NVIDIA GPUs where unprivileged users have access to interact with the display driver's kernel interface.
Mitigation
To mitigate this issue, prevent the NVIDIA kernel module from loading if GPU acceleration is not required:
1. Prevent the module from loading by creating a configuration file in `/etc/modprobe.d/`:
echo "install nvidia /bin/true" > /etc/modprobe.d/nvidia.conf
2. If the module is currently loaded, unload it:
modprobe -r nvidia
Caveats:
Disabling the NVIDIA kernel module disables GPU hardware acceleration, graphical output relying on the proprietary driver, and CUDA compute workloads. If active processes or dependencies prevent dynamically unloading the driver, a system restart is required.
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 | 5.5 | N/A | 5.5 |
| Attack Vector | Local | N/A | Local |
| Attack Complexity | Low | N/A | Low |
| Privileges Required | Low | N/A | Low |
| User Interaction | None | N/A | None |
| Scope | Unchanged | N/A | Unchanged |
| Confidentiality | None | N/A | None |
| Integrity Impact | None | N/A | None |
| Availability Impact | High | N/A | High |
Vector
Red Hat: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
cve.org: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Understanding the Weakness (CWE)
Availability
Technical Impact: DoS: Crash, Exit, or Restart
NULL pointer dereferences usually result in the failure of the process unless exception handling (on some platforms) is available and implemented. Even when exception handling is being used, it can still be very difficult to return the software to a safe state of operation.
Integrity,Confidentiality
Technical Impact: Execute Unauthorized Code or Commands; Read Memory; Modify Memory
In rare circumstances, when NULL is equivalent to the 0x0 memory address and privileged code can access it, then writing or reading memory is possible, which may lead to code execution.
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