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Full vulnerability report · 2023
CVE-2023-4211High confidence

Arm Mali GPU Kernel Driver Use-After-Free Vulnerability

Arm · Mali GPU Kernel Driver

5.5MediumCVSS 3.1
Recommended action
Protect now

CISA confirms exploitation in the wild and lists 2023-10-24 as the remediation due date.

Fix not verified
R
Operational reassessment

Published severity in operational context

Open reassessment dashboard →
Published severityMediumOperational priority:Critical, raised 2 bands.upgradedsince 3 Oct 2023

Evidence used

  • CISA confirms exploitation in the wild.
  • Exploitation requires an existing local or physical foothold with privileges.
  • EPSS is 1.10% for the current model date.

Compensating controls

  • Restrict local access and enforce least privilege on affected hosts.
  • Increase monitoring for the attack path and post-exploitation behaviour described in the report.

Verification

  1. Confirm that the asset runs Arm Mali GPU Kernel Driver and falls inside the recorded affected range.
  2. Recheck the vendor advisory before scheduling a change because no verified fixed version is currently retained.
  3. Validate exposure, authentication requirements and compensating controls in the actual environment.
  4. Reopen this reassessment when CVSS, KEV, EPSS, exploit evidence or remediation changes.
Mitigation target: Within 3 daysRemediation target: Within 90 days

This automated reassessment organises public evidence. It does not know asset exposure, business impact or control effectiveness and does not replace CVSS or a human risk decision.

Optional official sources

National CERT insights
?CERT means Computer Emergency Response Team; CSIRT is the closely related term Computer Security Incident Response Team.

Choose official national sources for this report. Each advisory shows its original language. Your selection is remembered on this device and included in shared links.

Official European source

ENISA European Vulnerability Database

Official EUVD identifiers, advisory evidence and known-exploited context. Missing fields are not treated as evidence of low risk.

1 current
ENISA EUVD identifier

EUVD-2023-54085

CISA KEV mirrored by ENISA

A local non-privileged user can make improper GPU memory processing operations to gain access to already freed memory.

EUVD state
Present in the current official mapping
Known exploitation
Recorded by ENISA since 3 Oct 2023. Evidence sources: cisa_kev.
ENISA score
5.5 · CVSS 3.1
Advisory evidence
2 linked advisory records
Recommended actionProtect now

CISA confirms exploitation in the wild and lists 2023-10-24 as the remediation due date.

Fix not verified
01

What, why and how

Arm Mali GPU Kernel Driver contains a use-after-free vulnerability that allows a local, non-privileged user to make improper GPU memory processing operations to gain access to already freed memory.

What

Arm Mali GPU Kernel Driver contains a use-after-free vulnerability that allows a local, non-privileged user to make improper GPU memory processing operations to gain access to already freed memory.

Why

The program can continue using memory after it has been released, producing unsafe and attacker-influenceable behaviour.

How

An attacker operating through local access may attempt exploitation with low privileges. If successful, the issue may cause the confidentiality, integrity or availability impact described by the vendor.

What

Arm Mali GPU Kernel Driver contains a use-after-free vulnerability that allows a local, non-privileged user to make improper GPU memory processing operations to gain access to already freed memory.

Why

The program can continue using memory after it has been released, producing unsafe and attacker-influenceable behaviour.

How

An attacker operating through local access may attempt exploitation with low privileges. If successful, the issue may cause the confidentiality, integrity or availability impact described by the vendor.

02

Exploit reality and attack path

CVSS severity, EPSS forecast probability, public exploit material and CISA-confirmed exploitation are separate signals.

Observed exploitation
?Confirmed exploitation and public exploit material are separate signals. Attacks can occur without public proof-of-concept or exploit code.
Confirmed in the wild

CISA added this CVE to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalogue on 2023-10-03.

Public PoC / exploit material
?Confirmed exploitation and public exploit material are separate signals. Attacks can occur without public proof-of-concept or exploit code.
None recorded

No exploit-tagged reference or CISA SSVC proof-of-concept state is currently recorded. Research may still exist outside the structured feeds.

Likely attack path
local access → Use After Free → cause the confidentiality, integrity or availability impact described by the vendor
Attack surface
Local
Privileges required
Low: a basic authenticated account is required
User interaction
None
Attack complexity
Low: no specialised conditions are recorded
Security boundary
Unchanged: impact remains within the vulnerable component's security authority
Weakness
?CWE means Common Weakness Enumeration: a standard category for the underlying weakness.
CWE-416 ↗

CWE-416: Use After Free. The product reuses or references memory after it has been freed. At some point afterward, the memory may be allocated again and saved in another pointer, while the original pointer references a location somewhere within the new allocation. Any operations using the original pointer are no longer valid because the memory belongs to the code that operates on the new pointer.

CVSS vector
?CVSS means Common Vulnerability Scoring System. The vector records the metric values used to calculate technical severity.
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N

Common Vulnerability Scoring System 3.1: the compact vector below is decoded into plain language.

AVLocalAttack vector: The attacker needs local access to the vulnerable system.ACLowAttack complexity: No specialised conditions are required beyond attacker-controlled input.PRLowPrivileges required: The attacker needs basic user-level privileges.UINoneUser interaction: No action by another user is required.SUnchangedScope: The security impact remains within the vulnerable component's authority.CHighConfidentiality impact: A successful attack can cause a major loss.INoneIntegrity impact: No direct loss is represented by this metric.ANoneAvailability impact: No direct loss is represented by this metric.
Post-exploitation / living off the land
The issue can support a local privilege or sandbox boundary transition; normal system utilities may then be available in the gained context.
CWE-416CISA KEV
A

Official authority intelligence

Only matched European and national findings are included. Language selectors and unavailable sources are omitted.

ENISA EUVD · EUVD-2023-54085Known-exploited evidence recorded

A local non-privileged user can make improper GPU memory processing operations to gain access to already freed memory.

Official EUVD record ↗
BSI · German · WID-SEC-2023-2841Samsung Android: Mehrere Schwachstellen ermöglichen

Ein entfernter Angreifer kann mehrere Schwachstellen in Samsung Android ausnutzen, um beliebigen Code auszuführen, Sicherheitsmaßnahmen zu umgehen, vertrauliche Informationen offenzulegen oder Dateien zu manipulieren.

Official advisory ↗
BSI · German · WID-SEC-2023-2548Google Android: Mehrere Schwachstellen

Ein Angreifer kann mehrere Schwachstellen in Google Android ausnutzen, um seine Privilegien zu erweitern, beliebigen Programmcode auszuführen, Informationen offenzulegen oder einen Denial of Service Zustand herbeizuführen.

Official advisory ↗
Cyber Security Agency of Singapore · English · CSA-SB-20231004Security Bulletin 04 Oct 2023

The Cyber Security Agency of Singapore included this CVE in its official Security Bulletin 04 Oct 2023, published on 4 October 2023. Open the linked bulletin for the product, severity and reference information published in that issue.

Official advisory ↗
CERT-FR · French · CERTFR-2023-AVI-0811Multiples vulnérabilités dans Google Android

tteinte à la confidentialité des données Déni de service à distance Exécution de code arbitraire à distance Non spécifié par l'éditeur Élévation de privilèges Systèmes affectés Google Android versions 11, 12, 12L, 13 sans le correctif de sécurité du 06 octobre 2023 Google Pixel sans le correctif de sécurité du 05 octobre 2023 Résumé De multiples vulnérabilités ont été découvertes dans Google Android. Certaines d'entre elles permettent à un attaquant de provoquer une exécution de code arbitraire à distance, un déni de service à distance et une atteinte à la confidentialité des données. L'éditeur indique que les vulnérabilités CVE-2023-4863 et CVE-2023-4211 sont exploitées. Solution Se référer au bulletin de sécurité de l'éditeur pour l'obtention des correctifs (cf. section Documentation). Documentation Bulletin de sécurité Android du 02 octobre 2023 https://source.android.com/docs/security/bulletin/2023-10-01?hl=fr#2023-10-01-security-patch-level-vulnerability-details Bulletin de sécurité Android Pixel du 04 octobre 2023 https://source.android.com/docs/security/bulletin/pixel/2023-10-01 Référence CVE CVE-2021-44828 https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-44828 Référence CVE CVE-2022-28348 https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2022-28348 Référence CVE CVE-2022-33220 https://www.cve.org/CVEReco

Official advisory ↗
JVN iPedia · Japanese · JVNDB-2023-013784複数の ARM Ltd. 製品における解放済みメモリの使用に関する脆弱性

5th gen gpu architecture kernel driver、Bifrost、Midgard 等複数の ARM Ltd. 製品には、解放済みメモリの使用に関する脆弱性が存在します。

Official advisory ↗
KISA KrCERT/CC · Korean · KNVD-6003현재 악용되고 있는 Exploit(Update. 2023-10-03)

Arm Mali GPU Kernel Driver contains a use-after-free vulnerability that allows a local, non-privileged user to make improper GPU memory processing operations to gain access to already freed memory.

Official advisory ↗
03

Patch and workaround

Operational remediation based on structured source evidence.

Status
?Patch availability is based on structured fixed-version fields and authoritative update references. If no fix is verified, check the vendor advisory before making a change.
Fix not verified
Affected
  • Midgard GPU Kernel Driver: r12p0 ≤ r32p0
  • Bifrost GPU Kernel Driver: r0p0 ≤ r42p0
  • Valhall GPU Kernel Driver: r19p0 ≤ r42p0
  • Arm 5th Gen GPU Architecture Kernel Driver: r41p0 ≤ r42p0
Fixed
No fixed version is explicitly recorded in the structured CVE data.
Action
No verified patch reference is present in the current structured sources. Check the vendor advisory before making a change.
Workaround
No verified workaround is recorded. Limit untrusted access and use least privilege until authoritative guidance is available.
04

Evidence and provenance

Published 1 Oct 2023 · Last source change 21 Oct 2025, 23:05 UTC · CWE-416 · Use After Free

CVE recordCVE.org · 5.1
CVSS sourceNIST NVD
EPSS source
?The date BlackTree first stored a score for this CVE from the daily FIRST EPSS feed.
FIRST · tracked since 2026-08-14
European sourceENISA EUVD · EUVD-2023-54085
Product sourceCISA KEV
Remediation sourceCVE/CNA references
CWE sourceCNA
NVD statusNVD enriched

Core structured fields are present and their contributing authorities are shown above.

Material change intelligence

What changed after publication

View recent updates ↗
  1. Affected versionsThe structured affected or fixed version information changed.
    Before
    r12p0 ≤ r32p0; r0p0 ≤ r42p0; r19p0 ≤ r42p0; r41p0 ≤ r42p0 · Fixed: No fixed version is explicitly recorded in the structured CVE data.
    After
    Midgard GPU Kernel Driver: r12p0 ≤ r32p0; Bifrost GPU Kernel Driver: r0p0 ≤ r42p0; Valhall GPU Kernel Driver: r19p0 ≤ r42p0; Arm 5th Gen GPU Architecture Kernel Driver: r41p0 ≤ r42p0 · Fixed: No fixed version is explicitly recorded in the structured CVE data.
    CNA ↗
Material fields only · duplicate refreshes suppressed · history retained for the configured operational retention period
CVE published
Added to CISA KEV
ENISA EUVD · EUVD-2023-54085↗CISA KEV record↗CVE authority or vendor reference↗Official CVE record (CNA and ADP data)↗NVD record↗
Technical terms and abbreviations used in this report
CVE
Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures: the public identifier for one disclosed vulnerability.
CVSS
Common Vulnerability Scoring System: a technical severity framework; it is not patching priority by itself.
EPSS
Exploit Prediction Scoring System: FIRST's estimate of the probability that exploitation activity will be observed in the next 30 days; it is a forecast, not confirmation.
CWE
Common Weakness Enumeration: the standard category describing the underlying software or hardware weakness.
CNA
CVE Numbering Authority: an organisation authorised to assign and publish CVE records.
CISA ADP
Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Authorized Data Publisher: structured enrichment added to a CVE record.
NVD
National Vulnerability Database: NIST's enrichment service for CVE records.
CERT / CSIRT
A computer security incident response team that publishes warnings or coordinates incident response.
PoC
Proof of concept: public material that demonstrates or helps reproduce exploitation.
CSAF
Common Security Advisory Framework: a machine-readable format for security advisories.
LoTL
Living off the land: abuse of legitimate tools or system functions during an attack.
Free version - for non-commercial use only.CVE-2023-4211 · cve.blacktree.nl