NVIDIA Fixes Linux GPU Driver Security Hole

Days after it was publicly revealed that a security vulnerability in the NVIDIA Linux driver easily yields root system access, NVIDIA has updated their proprietary graphics driver to address this problem.

This high-risk vulnerability not only affected the Linux x86/x86_64 driver but also Solaris and FreeBSD. NVIDIA released the 304.32 driver for their UNIX drivers to close up this issue plus they have also made a patch to fix this issue for those using older driver releases.

This security fix comes by blocking user-space access to the registers that control redirection of the VGA window. NVIDIA also took the additional step of blocking user-space access to registers controlling GPU-internal micro-controllers, which could face a similar issue.

More information on this issue plus the new driver download links is available from the NVIDIA customer help.