NVIDIA Jetson Linux (initrd command-line handling): An attacker with physical access and no credentials at all can

Impact

An attacker with physical access and no credentials at all can inject command-line arguments that initrd consumes, giving them code execution in early boot before the OS trust boundary exists. Everything downstream inherits the compromise - disk contents, any secrets the device unseals, and persistence that a normal reinstall will not clear. NVIDIA rates the scope as changed and all three impacts high, which is the correct read: this is total ownership of the device, not an escalation within it.

Who can reach it

Physical access to the device's boot path or console. No account, no prior foothold, no user interaction. Pair it with the nvluks issue in the same bulletin and a physically obtained Jetson gives up both its code execution path and its disk encryption.

What to do

Update Jetson Linux to 35.6.4, 36.5 or 38.4 for your branch and reboot. For devices already deployed in locations you do not physically control, assume tampering is possible until the update lands, and prioritise those over lab and datacentre units - the datacentre units were never really exposed to this one.

References