Description

NVIDIA Cumulus Linux contains a vulnerability in the user management component, where an unprivileged user could use improper privilege management on the system. A successful exploit of this vulnerability might lead to escalation of privileges.

Executive Summary

Technical Details

Mitigations

References

Additional Metadata

{
  "score": "7.8",
  "pubDate": "2026-08-18T19:16:45.520Z",
  "pubdate": "2026-08-18T19:16:45.520Z",
  "executiveSummary": "An improper privilege management vulnerability has been identified within the user management component of NVIDIA Cumulus Linux. This security flaw introduces significant risk by potentially allowing an unprivileged user to execute unauthorized actions on the underlying system.\nSuccessful exploitation of this vulnerability directly leads to an escalation of privileges, enabling local threat actors to transcend their restricted operational boundaries and attain elevated execution privileges.\nThe affected product is NVIDIA Cumulus Linux, specifically impacting its internal user management mechanisms. The primary risk implication centers on unauthorized system access and potential compromise of host integrity.\nTo achieve exploitation, an attacker must possess initial unprivileged access to the local system. The attack capabilities rely on leveraging the flawed privilege management logic within the user management component to manipulate system states or permissions.\nGiven the nature of the flaw, organizations utilizing NVIDIA Cumulus Linux must prioritize remediation strategies that restrict unauthorized access and enforce strict privilege boundaries across all system interfaces.",
  "technicalDetails": "The vulnerability resides within the user management component of NVIDIA Cumulus Linux. The root cause stems from improper privilege management, wherein the system fails to adequately validate or restrict operations performed by unprivileged users interacting with administrative user management interfaces or scripts.\nExploitation of this vulnerability requires local access to the target system. An unprivileged user initiates the attack flow by interacting with vulnerable user management functions that lack proper access control checks. Because the underlying component improperly grants high-privilege operations to low-privilege security contexts, the attacker can bypass intended authorization boundaries.\nThe attack flow proceeds as follows: First, the unprivileged actor identifies an exposed or inadequately protected user management workflow. Second, the user supplies inputs or invokes actions that trigger the flawed privilege check. Third, due to the absence of rigorous validation, the system executes the requested administrative operation on behalf of the unprivileged user.\nThe affected component is the user management subsystem of NVIDIA Cumulus Linux. Authentication requirements are minimal, as the attack vector assumes the adversary has already authenticated as a standard, unprivileged local user. The privilege requirements prior to exploitation are strictly unprivileged, while the post-exploitation impact results in elevated privileges.\nNetwork exposure is generally limited unless the vulnerable user management component is accessible via remote management services that inherit the same authorization flaws. The payload behavior involves executing unauthorized administrative commands or modifying system user databases, configurations, or access control lists.\nThe post-exploitation impact includes full privilege escalation, allowing the malicious actor to execute arbitrary commands with administrative rights, modify critical system configurations, compromise sensitive data, and maintain persistent unauthorized access over the affected NVIDIA Cumulus Linux instance."
}