CVE-2023-0198

What it actually does

Improper restriction of operations within the bounds of a memory buffer in the kernel mode layer of the NVIDIA GPU Display Driver allows out-of-bounds memory access, resulting in denial of service, information disclosure, and data tampering.

Why it matters to the business

Local attackers on affected systems using NVIDIA GPUs in virtualized environments can crash hosts, expose sensitive data, or alter memory contents, disrupting operations and potentially compromising tenant isolation in multi-tenant setups.

How an attack unfolds

An attacker with local access on a Linux system running the vulnerable driver crafts input that triggers out-of-bounds operations in the kernel mode layer, bypassing normal memory protections to achieve denial of service, read or write arbitrary memory, or tamper with data structures.

How to fix it

Update the NVIDIA GPU Display Driver and dependent virtualization layers (NVIDIA vGPU, Citrix Hypervisor, VMware vSphere, Red Hat RHEL KVM) to the latest vendor-provided versions that address the kernel mode memory handling issue.

How to confirm the fix worked

Confirm driver versions match or exceed the fixed releases published by NVIDIA and the affected hypervisor vendors; re-test GPU-accelerated workloads for stability and verify no anomalous kernel memory access patterns via system logs.

Typical attack path

1. Obtain local user access on a host running the affected NVIDIA GPU driver
2. Load or interact with a process that exercises the vulnerable kernel mode path
3. Supply crafted data to trigger the memory buffer bounds violation
4. Escalate to denial of service, information disclosure, or data tampering

How to detect it

Review kernel logs and dmesg output for NVIDIA driver-related buffer or memory access errors on hosts running the affected products; correlate with process activity that interacts with the GPU driver.

What your security team should do

• Prioritize patching NVIDIA GPU drivers and hypervisor components on all affected hosts
• Restrict local access to systems with GPU acceleration until updates are applied
• Monitor vendor advisories for exact fixed versions of nvidia-vgpu, Citrix, VMware, and RHEL packages