CVE-2025-23266Public exploit

Container escape via inherited hook environment

Published Jul 17, 2025 · Updated Feb 26, 2026

Untrusted search paths in NVIDIA Container Toolkit 1.17.7 and earlier allow local users to gain host root via a crafted GPU container. The privileged enable-cuda-compat createContainer hook inherits image-controlled environment variables, so LD_PRELOAD loads a shared object from the container root filesystem. Exploitation requires permission to start an attacker-controlled GPU container; versions before 1.17.5 are affected only in CDI mode, and crun-based systems are unaffected.

CVSS severity9.0
Critical
EPSS probability3.22%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Untrusted search paths in NVIDIA Container Toolkit 1.17.7 and earlier allow local users to gain host root via a crafted GPU container. The privileged enable-cuda-compat createContainer hook inherits image-controlled environment variables, so LD_PRELOAD loads a shared object from the container root filesystem. Exploitation requires permission to start an attacker-controlled GPU container; versions before 1.17.5 are affected only in CDI mode, and crun-based systems are unaffected.

The record

CVE
CVE-2025-23266
Published
Jul 17, 2025
Updated
Feb 26, 2026
Vendor
DPDK Project
Product
NVIDIA Container Toolkit
Classifications
CWE-426, CAPEC-38, T1611
Attack vector
adjacent
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Jul 17, 2025CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Feb 26, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

Compare your product and version with the public record. A matching version still requires validation against your environment.

Is a vulnerable build present?

Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.

  1. Affected versionversion=NVIDIA Container Toolkit All versions up to and including 1.17.7 (CDI mode only for versions prior to 1.17.5)
  2. Affected versionversion=NVIDIA GPU Operator All versions up to and including 25.3.0 (CDI mode only for versions prior to 25.3.0)

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectoradjacent
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

DPDK Project · NVIDIA Container Toolkitversion=NVIDIA Container Toolkit All versions up to and including 1.17.7 (CDI mode only for versions prior to 1.17.5); version=NVIDIA GPU Operator All versions up to and including 25.3.0 (CDI mode only for versions prior to 25.3.0)

Published CVSS scores

9.0NVIDIACVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
9.0GitHubCVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H

CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.

Attacks

What attackers are doing with it

Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.

Daily unique IPsNo honeypot observations are available for this CVE in the selected window.

No observations available

Sep 10, 2026Sep 16, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 16, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectoradjacent
Privilegesauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitPublished

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-426Untrusted Search Path
CAPEC-38Leveraging/Manipulating Configuration File Search Paths
T1611Escape to Host

Public exploit references

Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.

Technologies

Your stack

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Your stack

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