New GPUThor attack defeats NVIDIA ECC protection for root access

August 26, 2026 · BleepingComputer · Severity: MEDIUM

A newly disclosed Rowhammer attack called GPUThor can bypass error-correcting code (ECC) protections on NVIDIA GPUs, enabling denial-of-service (DoS) and root-level privilege escalation.

Key Takeaways

GPUThor exploits Rowhammer to bypass NVIDIA ECC, enabling DoS and root privilege escalation.
The attack targets GPU memory, undermining ECC protections that were assumed to prevent such exploits.
This vulnerability poses a critical threat to systems relying on NVIDIA GPUs for secure or high-performance computing.