CVE-2025-23300 is a vulnerability identified in the NVIDIA Virtual GPU Manager kernel driver for Linux, specifically a NULL pointer dereference (CWE-476). This occurs when a local user allocates a particular memory resource, causing the driver to dereference a null pointer, which leads to a kernel crash and thus a denial of service condition. The affected product versions include all releases up to and including the August 2025 version 580.82.02. The vulnerability requires local privileges (AV:L) but has low attack complexity (AC:L) and does not require user interaction (UI:N). The scope is unchanged (S:U), and the impact is limited to availability (A:H), with no confidentiality or integrity impact. The CVSS v3.1 base score is 5.5, reflecting a medium severity rating. No public exploits have been reported, and no patches are currently linked, indicating that mitigation relies on limiting local access and monitoring. The vulnerability is significant for environments using NVIDIA's Virtual GPU Manager for GPU virtualization on Linux, which is common in cloud, AI, and high-performance computing contexts. A successful exploit could disrupt services relying on GPU virtualization by crashing the kernel driver, causing system instability or downtime.

For European organizations, the primary impact of CVE-2025-23300 is denial of service, which can disrupt critical workloads that depend on GPU virtualization, such as AI model training, scientific simulations, and virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI). This could lead to operational downtime, reduced productivity, and potential financial losses. Since the vulnerability requires local access, insider threats or compromised internal accounts pose the greatest risk. The lack of confidentiality or integrity impact reduces the risk of data breaches or manipulation, but availability disruptions in sectors like finance, research, and manufacturing could have cascading effects. Organizations with large-scale GPU virtualization deployments, including cloud service providers and research institutions, are particularly vulnerable. The absence of known exploits in the wild currently limits immediate risk, but the medium severity rating warrants proactive mitigation to prevent future exploitation.

1. Restrict local access to systems running NVIDIA Virtual GPU Manager to trusted administrators only, minimizing the risk of local exploitation. 2. Implement strict user privilege management and monitoring to detect unauthorized attempts to allocate GPU memory resources. 3. Monitor system logs and kernel crash reports for signs of null pointer dereference or GPU manager failures. 4. Employ containerization or virtualization isolation techniques to limit the impact of potential crashes on critical workloads. 5. Stay informed on NVIDIA security advisories and apply patches or updates promptly once released. 6. Consider deploying intrusion detection systems (IDS) that can alert on abnormal GPU driver behavior. 7. Conduct regular security audits and penetration tests focusing on GPU virtualization components. 8. Develop incident response plans that include recovery procedures for GPU virtualization service disruptions.