# CVE-2023-25521: Privilege escalation in DGX A100/A800

> An attacker can execute code with unnecessary privileges in NVIDIA DGX SBIOS due to missing input validation, leading to DoS, data disclosure, and tampering.

- **Severity:** High 7.5 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** An administrator
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 3 Jul 2023
- **Updated:** 27 Nov 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-2x8r-wp6q-whxr

## What is CVE-2023-25521?

CVE-2023-25521 is a high-severity vulnerability in NVIDIA DGX A100/A800, published on 3 Jul 2023. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

NVIDIA DGX A100/A800 contains a vulnerability in SBIOS where an attacker may cause execution with unnecessary privileges by leveraging a weakness whereby proper input parameter validation is not performed.  A successful exploit of this vulnerability may lead to denial of service, information disclosure, and data tampering.

Weakness: CWE-269 (Improper Privilege Management), CWE-250 (Execution with Unnecessary Privileges)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-25521?

It affects 2 products.


Products: Nvidia Dgx A100 Firmware, Nvidia Dgx A800 Firmware.

## How do I fix CVE-2023-25521?

No fix has been published for CVE-2023-25521 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2023-25521 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-25521 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in NVIDIA DGX A100/A800

- [CVE-2023-31029](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-31029/): CVE (critical 9.3)
- [CVE-2023-31030](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-31030/): CVE (critical 9.3)
- [CVE-2023-31024](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-31024/): CVE (critical 9.0)
- [CVE-2022-42271](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-42271/): Memory corruption in NVIDIA DGX Servers (high 8.4)
- [CVE-2022-31599](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-31599/): Null dereference in NVIDIA DGX A100 (high 8.2)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2023-25521 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2023-25521 is a high-severity vulnerability in NVIDIA DGX A100/A800, published on 3 Jul 2023. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-25521 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: NVIDIA DGX A100/A800. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-25521/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-25521/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-25521
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-25521
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-25521

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-25521/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.