CVE-2025-33246 is a command injection vulnerability classified under CWE-77 found in the NVIDIA NeMo Framework, specifically within the ASR Evaluator utility component. This vulnerability arises due to improper neutralization of special elements in user-supplied input to a configuration parameter, allowing an attacker to inject arbitrary commands into the system shell. The flaw affects all versions of the NeMo Framework prior to 2.6.1 across all supported platforms. Exploitation requires local access with some level of privileges (PR:L) but does not require user interaction (UI:N). The CVSS v3.1 score of 7.8 reflects high severity, with impacts spanning confidentiality, integrity, and availability (all rated high). Successful exploitation could lead to arbitrary code execution, privilege escalation, unauthorized data modification, or leakage of sensitive information. While no public exploits have been reported yet, the vulnerability's nature makes it a critical concern for environments using NeMo for automatic speech recognition or related AI tasks. The lack of available patches at the time of reporting necessitates immediate attention to mitigate risk. The vulnerability highlights the importance of input validation and secure coding practices in AI frameworks that handle configuration parameters potentially influenced by user input.

For European organizations, this vulnerability poses a significant risk to AI and speech recognition deployments leveraging NVIDIA NeMo Framework. Potential impacts include unauthorized execution of malicious code, which could compromise sensitive data, disrupt AI model training or inference processes, and lead to privilege escalation within critical systems. Industries such as automotive, telecommunications, healthcare, and research institutions that utilize NVIDIA NeMo for voice-enabled applications or AI workflows could face operational disruptions and data breaches. The ability to tamper with data or disclose confidential information may also affect compliance with GDPR and other data protection regulations, leading to legal and financial repercussions. Since exploitation requires local privileges, insider threats or compromised accounts could be leveraged to exploit this vulnerability. The absence of known exploits currently provides a window for proactive mitigation, but the high severity score underscores the urgency of addressing the issue to prevent future attacks.

1. Upgrade the NVIDIA NeMo Framework to version 2.6.1 or later as soon as it becomes available to ensure the vulnerability is patched. 2. Until patching is possible, restrict access to the ASR Evaluator utility by limiting user permissions and employing strict access controls to prevent unauthorized local access. 3. Implement rigorous input validation and sanitization on all configuration parameters, especially those that influence command execution or system calls. 4. Employ application whitelisting and endpoint protection solutions to detect and block suspicious command execution attempts originating from the NeMo framework. 5. Monitor system logs and audit trails for unusual activity related to the ASR Evaluator utility or unexpected command executions. 6. Educate system administrators and users about the risks of local privilege misuse and enforce the principle of least privilege to minimize the attack surface. 7. Consider isolating AI workloads in containerized or sandboxed environments to limit the impact of potential exploits. 8. Maintain up-to-date backups and incident response plans tailored to AI infrastructure to enable rapid recovery if exploitation occurs.