dbcve.org
DdkApplication · Imaginationtech

CVE-2026-45203

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2026-07-10
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 26.1 or later.
See remediation →
80/100
Remediation priority · High
Zero-click 6 weeks old

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 · unedited
Kernel software installed and running inside a Host VM may post improper commands to the GPU Firmware to trigger a memory write outside the permitted range of memory for the host kernel. A TOCTOU bug existed where a malicious driver could modify values in memory after firmware validation but before use.

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 confidence

A TOCTOU race condition in GPU firmware allows kernel software running inside a Host VM to send improper commands to the GPU firmware that bypass validation checks, resulting in memory writes occurring outside the permitted memory range accessible to the host kernel.

MitigationApply vendor-supplied GPU firmware updates and hypervisor patches addressing the TOCTOU vulnerability; restrict VM access to GPU firmware interfaces through hypervisor configuration controls where available.

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
DdkApplication
Affected:< 26.1= 26.1

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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify GPU hardware in the system
    Run commands such as 'lspci | grep -i vga' or 'lspci | grep -i gpu' to list installed graphics hardware. Check vendor-specific tools like nvidia-smi, amdgpuid, or intel_gpu_top if available.
    Affected if A GPU is present from a vendor known to use firmware with CVE-2026-45203 vulnerability (investigate specific GPU model and firmware version against vendor advisories).
  2. Determine GPU firmware version
    Use vendor-specific tools to query firmware version. For example: 'nvidia-smi' for NVIDIA, 'amdgpu-version' or 'rocm-smi' for AMD, 'intel_gpu_top' or 'dmidecode' for Intel. Consult vendor documentation for firmware version retrieval methods.
    Affected if The installed firmware version matches the vulnerable version range disclosed by the GPU vendor for CVE-2026-45203.
  3. Check for VM GPU passthrough configuration
    Inspect hypervisor configuration files or settings. For libvirt/KVM: review VM XML domain definitions for hostdev entries or direct PCI assignment. For VMware: check VM settings for GPU passthrough or vGPU configuration. For Hyper-V: check for GPU partitioning settings.
    Affected if A Host VM has direct or paravirtualized access to the GPU, allowing the VM kernel to send commands directly to GPU firmware.
  4. Verify hypervisor GPU firmware isolation controls
    Review hypervisor settings for GPU firmware interface restrictions. Check whether hypervisor provides controls to limit VM access to GPU firmware commands (for example, NVIDIA vGPU grid settings, AMD MxGPU policy, or Intel GVT-d).
    Affected if The hypervisor does not enforce firmware command validation and the VM kernel can bypass validation checks to trigger memory writes outside permitted ranges.
  5. Check for untrusted VM kernel access to GPU
    Audit VM configurations to determine whether untrusted or less-trusted VM kernels have the ability to interact with GPU firmware interfaces. Review VM trust levels and tenant isolation policies.
    Affected if A VM kernel with lower trust level or from an untrusted source can directly invoke GPU firmware commands.

A user is affected if their system contains a GPU with firmware vulnerable to CVE-2026-45203 AND a Host VM kernel has direct or insufficiently restricted access to GPU firmware interfaces, allowing improper commands to bypass validation and trigger out-of-range memory writes.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

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 data
Upgrade available Upgrade to 26.1 or later
Fixed in 26.1
Interim mitigation

Apply vendor-supplied GPU firmware updates and hypervisor patches addressing the TOCTOU vulnerability; restrict VM access to GPU firmware interfaces through hypervisor configuration controls where available.

Fix this in Ddk Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation8.0 h
  • Implementation16.0 h
  • Testing12.0 h
  • Review / QA8.0 h
44.0 hours of engineering $7,720
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $12,352.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2026-45203 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

Get it on GitHub Scan in the browser

References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2026-45203 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • 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