Researchers from Palo Alto Networks’ Unit 42 have uncovered nine vulnerabilities in NVIDIA’s CUDA Toolkit, a widely used platform for GPU-accelerated computing.
These flaws, found in the cuobjdump and nvdisasm utilities, could allow attackers to exploit developer environments, leading to potential denial-of-service (DoS) attacks or limited information disclosure.
NVIDIA has addressed these vulnerabilities with a security update released in February 2025.
Vulnerabilities in CUDA Toolkit Utilities
The affected tools, cuobjdump and nvdisasm, are critical for developers working with CUDA binaries files that contain GPU-specific code.
While these utilities do not execute CUDA code directly, they enable developers to inspect and optimize their programs.
The vulnerabilities include six flaws in cuobjdump and three in nvdisasm, categorized as integer overflow and out-of-bounds read issues.
Exploiting these flaws requires crafting malicious CUDA binary files (cubin files), potentially causing disruptions when analyzed with the vulnerable tools.
The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE) identifiers assigned to these issues include CVE-2024-53870 through CVE-2024-53878, with severity scores ranging from 2.8 to 3.3 on the CVSS scale, indicating a low impact level.
Despite this classification, the risks are significant for organizations relying on CUDA for applications in artificial intelligence, scientific research, and multimedia processing.
Technical Details of Flaws
The identified vulnerabilities stem from improper handling of cubin files by the utilities:
- Integer Overflow: This occurs when an integer value exceeds its storage capacity, potentially triggering memory corruption or crashes.
- Out-of-Bounds Read: This flaw allows the tools to access memory outside the intended buffer range, which could lead to data leaks or application instability.
For example, CVE-2024-53873 describes an integer overflow in cuobjdump that could result in a heap buffer overflow, enabling limited code execution alongside DoS and information disclosure risks.
Similarly, CVE-2024-53877 affects nvdisasm, allowing attackers to exploit out-of-bounds reads for similar outcomes.
NVIDIA’s February 2025 update resolves these vulnerabilities by improving input validation and memory handling within the affected tools.
Developers are strongly advised to upgrade to the latest version of the CUDA Toolkit to mitigate risks.
Additionally, Palo Alto Networks recommends using their Next-Generation Firewall (NGFW) with Advanced Threat Prevention services for enhanced protection against exploitation attempts targeting these flaws.
The discovery highlights the importance of securing development environments, especially those involving high-performance computing platforms like CUDA.
Given its widespread use in sensitive fields such as generative AI and machine learning, vulnerabilities in CUDA tools could have far-reaching consequences if left unaddressed.
Developers must remain vigilant by applying security updates promptly and employing robust threat prevention measures.
