Introduction and impact
On Linux systems running unpatched NVIDIA Display Drivers, an attacker can escalate privileges, execute code, and tamper with data. CVE-2025-23280 (CVSS 7.0) affects a wide range of NVIDIA-powered workstations, servers, and desktops, which makes it a priority for any organization or individual that relies on NVIDIA GPUs for computation, graphics, or AI workloads.
NVIDIA dominates the GPU and AI hardware sector, and its drivers run on millions of Linux and Windows systems. Gaming, scientific computing, AI research, and enterprise data centers all depend on its products, so a security flaw in its drivers reaches a large part of the tech industry worldwide.
Technical information
CVE-2025-23280 is a use-after-free vulnerability (CWE-416) in the NVIDIA Display Driver for Linux. The flaw comes from improper memory management. The driver accesses memory after it has been freed, which gives an attacker with local access a window to exploit race conditions and manipulate or control the contents of that memory region.
Exploitation typically involves three steps:
- Force the driver to free a memory object while it keeps a reference to it (a dangling pointer).
- Trigger a code path that uses the dangling pointer after the memory is freed.
- Win a race condition to allocate attacker-controlled data in the freed memory region.
If the attack succeeds, the attacker can execute arbitrary code in kernel context, escalate privileges, tamper with data, cause denial of service, or leak sensitive information. Every version before the fixed releases listed below is vulnerable. No public code snippets or proof of concept are available, and exploitation requires precise timing and an understanding of the driver's memory allocation patterns.
Affected systems and versions
- NVIDIA Display Driver for Linux, all versions prior to:
- 580.95.05 (R580 branch)
- 570.195.03 (R570 branch)
- 535.274.02 (R535 branch)
All earlier versions in these branches are affected. The Linux distribution and GPU model make no difference. If the driver version falls within the vulnerable range, the system is exposed.
Vendor security history
NVIDIA's driver stack has had memory management vulnerabilities before, including earlier use-after-free and race-condition bugs. The October 2025 security bulletin disclosed multiple high-severity flaws, including CVE-2025-23282 (race condition, Linux), CVE-2025-23309 (uncontrolled DLL loading, Windows), and others. NVIDIA typically issues coordinated bulletins and patches for all supported branches, and it generally responds promptly. It recently began publishing security advisories on GitHub as well, in machine-readable formats.
References
- NVD entry for CVE-2025-23280
- NVIDIA Security Bulletin
- CVE.org entry
- SecurityOnline.info: NVIDIA GPU Driver Patches Multiple High Severity Flaws
- GamingOnLinux: NVIDIA Reveal New Driver Security Issues for October 2025
- ZeroPath: Summary of Related NVIDIA Driver Vulnerabilities
- NVIDIA Product Security
- NVIDIA Product Security GitHub
