CVE-2025-26402 identifies a denial of service (DoS) vulnerability within Intel(R) Neural Processing Unit (NPU) drivers operating at Ring 3, which is the user application level in the operating system. The vulnerability arises due to a failure in protection mechanisms that allow unprivileged, authenticated local users to trigger a DoS condition. The attack does not require user interaction or special internal knowledge, making it relatively straightforward to exploit. The vulnerability specifically impacts system availability by potentially causing the NPU driver or the system relying on it to become unresponsive or crash, but it does not compromise confidentiality or integrity of data. The CVSS 4.0 base score is 6.8, reflecting a medium severity level, with an attack vector limited to local access (AV:L), low attack complexity (AC:L), no privileges required beyond authenticated user (PR:L), and no user interaction needed (UI:N). The vulnerability does not affect confidentiality (VC:N) or integrity (VI:N) but has high impact on availability (VA:H). No known exploits are currently reported in the wild, and no patches are linked yet, indicating the need for vigilance and prompt patching once available. This vulnerability is particularly relevant for systems leveraging Intel NPUs for AI acceleration or other specialized processing tasks, which are increasingly deployed in enterprise and critical infrastructure environments.

For European organizations, this vulnerability poses a risk primarily to system availability, potentially causing service interruptions or system crashes on machines utilizing Intel NPU drivers. This can disrupt AI workloads, data processing, or other critical operations relying on NPU acceleration, leading to operational downtime and productivity loss. Since the attack requires local authenticated access, the threat is more significant in environments where multiple users have access to systems or where insider threats exist. The lack of impact on confidentiality and integrity reduces risks related to data breaches or tampering but does not diminish the operational risks associated with denial of service. Organizations in sectors such as manufacturing, finance, healthcare, and government that deploy Intel NPU-enabled systems for AI or machine learning tasks may experience interruptions affecting business continuity. The medium severity score suggests that while the vulnerability is not critical, it warrants timely remediation to prevent exploitation, especially in high-availability or safety-critical environments.

1. Monitor Intel’s official channels for patches addressing CVE-2025-26402 and apply them promptly once released. 2. Restrict local access to systems with Intel NPU drivers to trusted and authorized personnel only, minimizing the risk of exploitation by unprivileged users. 3. Implement strict user account management and privilege controls to reduce the number of authenticated users who can access vulnerable systems. 4. Employ endpoint detection and response (EDR) tools to monitor for unusual system behavior or crashes related to NPU driver activity. 5. Where feasible, isolate NPU-enabled systems in segmented network zones to limit lateral movement in case of compromise. 6. Conduct regular security awareness training emphasizing the risks of local privilege misuse and insider threats. 7. Maintain up-to-date backups and incident response plans to quickly recover from potential denial of service incidents. 8. Evaluate the necessity of Intel NPU driver usage in critical systems and consider alternative configurations if risk tolerance is low.