dbcve.org
Actively exploited in the wild. This CVE is on the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities list — treat remediation as urgent. Federal remediation due by 20 Apr 2023.
Bifrost Gpu Kernel DriverApplication · Arm

CVE-2022-22706

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2022-03-03
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
96/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
In the wild Zero-click

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
Arm Mali GPU Kernel Driver allows a non-privileged user to achieve write access to read-only memory pages. This affects Midgard r26p0 through r31p0, Bifrost r0p0 through r35p0, and Valhall r19p0 through r35p0.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · high confidence

Arm Mali GPU Kernel Driver contains a memory access control flaw allowing non-privileged users to write to read-only memory pages. This vulnerability affects Midgard (r26p0-r31p0), Bifrost (r0p0-r35p0), and Valhall (r19p0-r35p0) GPU architectures, potentially enabling local privilege escalation.

MitigationUpdate the Arm Mali GPU kernel driver to a version beyond r31p0 for Midgard or r35p0 for Bifrost/Valhall architectures to obtain the patched driver. Apply kernel updates provided by the device/OS vendor as they become available.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
Bifrost Gpu Kernel DriverApplication
Affected:>= r0p0, < r36p0
Midgard Gpu Kernel DriverApplication
Affected:>= r26p0, < r32p0
Valhall Gpu Kernel DriverApplication
Affected:>= r19p0, < r36p0

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify if the system uses an Arm Mali GPU
    Check system hardware information (e.g., lspci, /proc/cpuinfo, or device-specific hardware queries) for Arm Mali GPU presence
    Affected if No Arm Mali GPU is found in the system hardware inventory
  2. Determine the Mali GPU microarchitecture
    Identify the specific GPU architecture (Bifrost, Midgard, or Valhall) from the GPU model name or driver information
    Affected if The GPU architecture is not Bifrost, Midgard, or Valhall
  3. Locate the Mali GPU kernel driver version
    Query the installed Mali GPU kernel driver for its version string (typically found in /proc, /sys filesystem entries, or via driver-specific system interfaces)
    Affected if Unable to retrieve a driver version string from the Mali kernel driver
  4. Compare Bifrost driver version against affected range
    For Bifrost GPUs, compare the installed driver version to the affected range: >= r0p0 and < r36p0
    Affected if The Bifrost driver version falls within r0p0 to r35p9 (inclusive)
  5. Compare Midgard driver version against affected range
    For Midgard GPUs, compare the installed driver version to the affected range: >= r26p0 and < r32p0
    Affected if The Midgard driver version falls within r26p0 to r31p9 (inclusive)
  6. Compare Valhall driver version against affected range
    For Valhall GPUs, compare the installed driver version to the affected range: >= r19p0 and < r36p0
    Affected if The Valhall driver version falls within r19p0 to r35p9 (inclusive)

The system is affected if it contains an Arm Mali GPU (Bifrost, Midgard, or Valhall) with a kernel driver version matching the specified vulnerable range for that architecture.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

dbcve · scoped
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Update the Arm Mali GPU kernel driver to a version beyond r31p0 for Midgard or r35p0 for Bifrost/Valhall architectures to obtain the patched driver. Apply kernel updates provided by the device/OS vendor as they become available.

Recommended fix High confidence

Bifrost r36p0, Midgard r32p0, or Valhall r36p0 (depending on GPU architecture)

  1. Identify the Arm Mali GPU model and current driver version in use (Midgard, Bifrost, or Valhall architecture)
  2. Obtain the appropriate fixed driver version for your GPU architecture: Bifrost r36p0 or later, Midgard r32p0 or later, Valhall r36p0 or later
  3. Download the fixed driver from the official Arm developer portal or through your device manufacturer's update channel
  4. Apply the driver update following the standard process for your operating system/device (typically requires system reboot)
  5. Verify the driver version has been successfully updated to the fixed release

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Bifrost Gpu Kernel Driver Exploited in the wild — priority engagement
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
14.0 hours of engineering $2,490
Get help mitigating

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,984.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2022-22706 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

Get it on GitHub Scan in the browser

References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2022-22706 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data