CVE-2026-47515
Description
A flaw was found in the NVIDIA GPU display driver. A local user with elevated privileges can trigger an unbounded string operation within the kernel mode layer, causing an out-of-bounds memory read. Successful exploitation could allow the attacker to execute arbitrary code, escalate privileges, cause a denial of service (DoS), or access sensitive information.
Statement
This vulnerability is rated as Moderate severity for Red Hat Enterprise Linux because exploitation requires local access and elevated administrative privileges to interact with the kernel-mode driver interface. On systems utilizing NVIDIA GPU hardware with proprietary drivers installed, an attacker with high privileges could leverage this issue to trigger memory corruption within the kernel space, potentially achieving arbitrary code execution or a denial of service. Systems without NVIDIA hardware or those using native open-source drivers (such as nouveau) do not load this kernel driver and remain unaffected.
Mitigation
Prevent loading of the NVIDIA kernel module by blacklisting it in the modprobe configuration.
1. Create a configuration file to prevent the module from loading:
echo 'install nvidia /bin/true' > /etc/modprobe.d/disable-nvidia.conf
2. If the module is currently loaded, unload it or reboot the system:
modprobe -r nvidia
Caveats: Disabling this module prevents NVIDIA GPU acceleration, display output, and CUDA workloads from functioning on affected hardware. A system reboot or service reload may be required for changes to take effect if dependent services are using the driver.
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
Understanding the Weakness (CWE)
Confidentiality
Technical Impact: Read Memory
An attacker could get secret values such as cryptographic keys, PII, memory addresses, or other information that could be used in additional attacks.
Confidentiality
Technical Impact: Bypass Protection Mechanism
Out-of-bounds memory could contain memory addresses or other information that can be used to bypass ASLR and other protection mechanisms in order to improve the reliability of exploiting a separate weakness for code execution.
Availability
Technical Impact: DoS: Crash, Exit, or Restart
An attacker could cause a segmentation fault or crash by causing memory to be read outside of the bounds of the buffer. This is especially likely when the code reads a variable amount of data and assumes that a sentinel exists to stop the read operation, such as a NUL in a string.
Other
Technical Impact: Varies by Context
The read operation could produce other undefined or unexpected results.
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