CVE-2025-33220
Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.
NVD · uneditedNVIDIA vGPU software contains a vulnerability in the Virtual GPU Manager, where a malicious guest could cause heap memory access after the memory is freed. A successful exploit of this vulnerability might lead to code execution, escalation of privileges, data tampering, denial of service, or information disclosure.
Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.
dbcve analysis · moderate confidenceNVIDIA vGPU software contains a use-after-free vulnerability in the Virtual GPU Manager where a malicious guest VM can trigger heap memory access after the memory has been freed. This memory corruption in the hypervisor-level vGPU component can be exploited to achieve code execution, privilege escalation, or denial of service.
Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.
CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.
From the vector- Attack vector
- Local
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.
dbcve checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Verify NVIDIA vGPU software is installedCheck for NVIDIA Virtual GPU Manager component on the hypervisor. On VMware ESXi, run 'esxcli software vib list | grep -i nvidia' or check the installed VIBs. On other hypervisors, check for nvidia vgpu manager driver modules.Affected if NVIDIA vGPU software is present on the hypervisor
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Identify the installed vGPU software versionRetrieve the Virtual GPU Manager version from the hypervisor. On ESXi, use 'vmkmodctl ls' or check the nvidia VIB details. Look for version strings containing the vGPU software release number.Affected if Installed version matches or falls within the affected version range (contact NVIDIA for specific affected versions)
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Confirm vGPU functionality is enabledVerify that vGPU profiles are configured and assigned to VMs. Check hypervisor settings for active vGPU devices or graphics acceleration configurations.Affected if vGPU profiles are created and VMs are assigned vGPU resources, enabling the attack surface
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Check for untrusted guest VM access to vGPUReview the inventory of VMs assigned vGPU resources. Identify which guest VMs have access to vGPU and whether they come from untrusted or unknown sources.Affected if Untrusted or unknown guest VMs have vGPU assignments, allowing them to trigger the vulnerability
User is affected if NVIDIA vGPU software is installed with a vulnerable version AND vGPU resources are assigned to guest VMs.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.
From vendor dataApply NVIDIA's security patch for vGPU software when available. Until then, restrict untrusted VM access to vGPU resources and monitor for indicators of compromise targeting the Virtual GPU Manager.
- Consultation8.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing12.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2025-33220 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2025-33220 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
- No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data