Pierluigi Paganini September 30, 2024
Critical vulnerability CVE-2024-0132 (CVSS score 9.0) in the NVIDIA Container Toolkit could allow an attacker to escape the container and gain full access to the underlying host.
The vulnerability is a Time-of-check Time-of-Use (TOCTOU) issue that impacts NVIDIA Container Toolkit 1.16.1 or earlier.
“NVIDIA Container Toolkit 1.16.1 or earlier contains a Time-of-check Time-of-Use (TOCTOU) vulnerability when used with default configuration where a specifically crafted container image may gain access to the host file system.” reads the advisory published by NVIDIA. “This does not impact use cases where CDI is used. A successful exploit of this vulnerability may lead to code execution, denial of service, escalation of privileges, information disclosure, and data tampering.”
The NVIDIA Container Toolkit is a comprehensive suite designed to facilitate the deployment and management of GPU-accelerated containers. It enables users to build and run containers that leverage NVIDIA GPUs, making it particularly valuable for applications requiring high-performance computing, such as machine learning and data analysis.
NVIDIA Container Toolkit is used in many AI-based platforms, and it is used by systems relying on NVIDIA hardware.
Cloud security firm Wiz reported the vulnerability to NVIDIA on September 1st, 2024. The company did not disclose technical details of attacks exploiting this issue due to its impact.
This issue impacts any AI applications using a vulnerable container toolkit for GPU support, whether in the cloud or on-premise.
“Wiz Research has uncovered a critical security vulnerability, CVE-2024-0132, in the widely used NVIDIA Container Toolkit, which provides containerized AI applications with access to GPU resources. This impacts any AI application – in the cloud or on-premise – that is running the vulnerable container toolkit to enable GPU support.” reads the advisory published by Wiz. “The vulnerability enables attackers who control a container image executed by the vulnerable toolkit to escape from that container and gain full access to the underlying host system, posing a serious risk to sensitive data and infrastructure.”
According to Wiz, 33% of cloud environments are impacted by this vulnerability, the data was analyzed by Wiz Research across 100K+ public cloud environments. This figure highlights the serious nature of the CVE-2024-0132 vulnerability and the importance of taking steps to mitigate it.
Below are the three stages of the attack detailed by Wiz researchers:
NVIDIA addressed the issue on September 26, 2024, with the release of the NVIDIA Container Toolkit version 1.16.2 and NVIDIA GPU Operator 24.6.2.
Follow me on Twitter: @securityaffairs and Facebook and Mastodon
(SecurityAffairs – hacking, NVIDIA)