CVE-2026-45196
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 · uneditedKernel software installed and running inside a Host VM may post improper commands to the GPU Firmware to trigger a GPU register access which can lead to privilege escalation.
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 confidenceKernel software running inside a Host VM can send improper commands to the GPU Firmware, triggering unauthorized GPU register access that can lead to privilege escalation. This appears to be a virtualization escape vulnerability where a VM gains elevated privileges through improper GPU command validation.
Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.
Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.
NVD · CPE data< 26.1= 26.1CVSS 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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Identify GPU passthrough or virtualization in useReview hypervisor configuration files (e.g., libvirt XML for KVM, vSphere VM settings) or run commands like 'lspci | grep -i vga' or 'nvidia-smi' inside the VM to determine if GPU is passed through or virtualizedAffected if GPU passthrough (direct access) or GPU virtualization is enabled for the VM
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Determine GPU hardware model and vendorRun 'lspci -vnn | grep -i vga' or vendor-specific tools like 'nvidia-smi', 'amdgpu-pro-smi', or 'intel_gpu_top' to identify the installed GPU hardwareAffected if The system uses a GPU that supports passthrough or virtualization (most modern GPUs from NVIDIA, AMD, or Intel)
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Check GPU firmware versionUse vendor-specific tools: 'nvidia-smi' for NVIDIA, 'amdgpu-pro-smi --query-firmware' for AMD, or check BIOS/UEFI settings. For vGPU, check via 'nvidia-smi -q' or hypervisor-specific commandsAffected if GPU firmware version cannot be determined or is outdated relative to vendor security advisories
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Verify hypervisor command filtering configurationCheck hypervisor settings for GPU command validation or virsh dumpxml for KVM looking for <gpu> or <hostdev> elements with security attributes. For ESXi, check VMX file for PCI passthrough settingsAffected if Hypervisor lacks explicit GPU command filtering or validation rules for passthrough devices
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Confirm VM has direct GPU accessInside the VM, run 'lspci | grep -i vga' or 'nvidia-smi' to confirm the VM sees the physical GPU directly rather than a virtual GPUAffected if The VM has direct (passthrough) access to the physical GPU hardware
A system is affected if it runs a VM with GPU passthrough or virtualization enabled and the GPU firmware or hypervisor lacks proper command filtering to block improper GPU register access commands from the VM.
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 data26.1
Apply GPU firmware updates from the hardware vendor and implement hypervisor-level command filtering to block improper GPU commands originating from VMs. Restrict VM access to GPU passthrough functions until patches are applied.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2026-45196 — 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-2026-45196 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
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