CVE-2024-45333 is a medium-severity vulnerability affecting the Intel(R) Data Center GPU Flex Series for Windows driver versions prior to 31.0.101.4314. The issue arises from improper access control within the driver, which allows an authenticated local user to potentially cause a denial of service (DoS) condition. Specifically, the vulnerability can be exploited by a user with limited privileges (low privileges) on the affected system to disrupt the normal operation of the GPU driver, leading to service interruption or system instability. The attack vector requires local access, meaning the attacker must have some form of authenticated presence on the machine, but no user interaction is necessary once access is obtained. The CVSS 4.0 score of 6.9 reflects a medium severity rating, with the main impact being availability degradation (denial of service). The vulnerability does not affect confidentiality or integrity, and exploitation does not require elevated privileges beyond authenticated local access. No known exploits are currently reported in the wild, and no public patches or mitigation links were provided at the time of publication. This vulnerability is relevant in environments where Intel Data Center GPU Flex Series hardware is deployed with Windows drivers, particularly in data centers or cloud infrastructures leveraging these GPUs for compute workloads.

For European organizations, the primary impact of CVE-2024-45333 is the potential disruption of critical compute workloads that rely on Intel Data Center GPU Flex Series hardware. This could affect cloud service providers, research institutions, financial services, and enterprises using GPU acceleration for AI, machine learning, or high-performance computing tasks. A denial of service could lead to temporary loss of availability of GPU resources, impacting business continuity and operational efficiency. While the vulnerability does not allow data theft or system takeover, the interruption of GPU services could delay time-sensitive computations or degrade service quality. Organizations with multi-tenant environments or shared infrastructure may face increased risk if a malicious insider or compromised user account exploits this flaw. Given the local access requirement, the threat is more relevant to internal threat actors or attackers who have already gained foothold in the network. The absence of known exploits limits immediate risk, but the medium severity rating warrants timely remediation to prevent potential escalation or chaining with other vulnerabilities.

To mitigate CVE-2024-45333, European organizations should: 1) Apply the updated Intel driver version 31.0.101.4314 or later as soon as it becomes available to ensure the access control flaw is corrected. 2) Restrict local access to systems running the affected GPU drivers by enforcing strict user account management, including least privilege principles and robust authentication mechanisms. 3) Monitor and audit local user activities on GPU-enabled servers to detect unusual behavior that could indicate exploitation attempts. 4) Implement network segmentation and isolation for critical GPU compute nodes to limit exposure to unauthorized users. 5) Employ endpoint detection and response (EDR) solutions capable of identifying anomalous driver or GPU-related activities. 6) Educate system administrators and security teams about this vulnerability to ensure rapid response and patch deployment. 7) If patching is delayed, consider temporarily disabling or limiting access to the Intel Data Center GPU Flex Series drivers where feasible to reduce attack surface.