Description

NVIDIA OpenShell for all platforms contains a vulnerability where a malicious gateway could cause OS command injection. A successful exploit of this vulnerability might lead to code execution, data tampering, and information disclosure.

Executive Summary

Technical Details

Mitigations

References

Additional Metadata

{
  "score": "8.8",
  "pubDate": "2026-08-25T21:17:29.050Z",
  "pubdate": "2026-08-25T21:17:29.050Z",
  "executiveSummary": "A critical OS command injection vulnerability exists within NVIDIA OpenShell across all platforms, stemming from insufficient validation of inputs received from a gateway.\nThis vulnerability allows an unauthenticated remote attacker to execute arbitrary commands with the privileges of the underlying OpenShell process.\nThe successful exploitation of this flaw can lead to full system compromise, unauthorized data tampering, and the exfiltration of sensitive information.\nThe vulnerability affects all versions of NVIDIA OpenShell deployed in environments where a gateway communicates with the service, presenting a significant security risk for data integrity and confidentiality.\nExploitation requires the attacker to exert control over the gateway entity or perform a man-in-the-middle attack to inject malicious payloads into the data stream processed by the vulnerable component.\nGiven the nature of command injection, the attack surface is limited to the interface that parses incoming gateway traffic, necessitating immediate remediation to prevent lateral movement and privilege escalation within the affected infrastructure.",
  "technicalDetails": "The vulnerability originates from a failure to sanitize or validate external inputs processed by NVIDIA OpenShell from a connected gateway. The root cause is identified as improper neutralization of special elements used in an OS command, commonly referred to as CWE-78: Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an OS Command (OS Command Injection).\nIn a typical attack scenario, the vulnerable component utilizes unsanitized input derived from a gateway response to construct and execute system-level commands. Because the application does not employ effective shell meta-character filtering or robust input validation routines, an attacker can append shell metacharacters such as semicolons, pipes, or backticks to inject additional commands into the execution context.\nThe attack flow follows a structured sequence: First, the attacker positions themselves as a malicious gateway or compromises a legitimate gateway entity communicating with the NVIDIA OpenShell service. Second, the attacker crafts a malicious payload containing system commands designed to be executed by the host operating system. Third, the payload is delivered to the target interface within OpenShell. Fourth, the vulnerable function parses the input and incorporates it into a system shell execution string. Finally, the operating system executes the injected commands with the inherited permissions of the OpenShell service, bypassing intended logical constraints.\nExploitation does not inherently require prior authentication if the gateway communication interface is reachable and lacks transport-level security, allowing the attacker to interact directly with the command parser. The post-exploitation impact is severe, enabling the attacker to establish persistence, execute arbitrary binaries, manipulate configuration files, or harvest sensitive credentials stored within the environment.\nThe scope of this vulnerability extends across all platforms running NVIDIA OpenShell, indicating a systemic flaw in the handling of external input streams. Because the injected commands execute at the privilege level of the application process, if the process is running with root or administrative privileges, the attacker gains complete control over the affected system. This vulnerability highlights the necessity of implementing strict input allow-lists and avoiding the direct invocation of shell interpreters when processing external gateway data."
}