CVE-2023-21403
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 · uneditedIn RGXDestroyZSBufferKM of rgxta3d.c, there is a possible arbitrary code execution due to an uncaught exception. This could lead to local escalation of privilege in the kernel with no additional execution privileges needed. User interaction is not needed for exploitation.
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 confidenceA kernel-mode vulnerability in Imagination Technologies' PowerVR GPU driver (RGXDestroyZSBufferKM in rgxta3d.c) allows arbitrary code execution via an uncaught exception, enabling local privilege escalation to kernel level without user interaction.
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 dataall versionsCVSS 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
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify GPU hardware vendorCheck /proc/pvr/version or use 'getprop ro.hardware' or check /sys/class/misc/gpu/info to determine if the device uses Imagination Technologies PowerVR GPUAffected if The device uses a PowerVR GPU; devices with other GPU vendors (Adreno, Mali) are not affected by this specific CVE
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Verify PowerVR driver is loadedCheck lsmod or /proc/modules for pvrsrvkm (PowerVR kernel module) and examine /system/lib/modules/ for PowerVR driver filesAffected if PowerVR kernel module (pvrsrvkm) is present and loaded; if no PowerVR driver is present, the device is not vulnerable
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Check for known vulnerable functionInspect /sys/kernel/debug/pvr or vendor-specific debugfs nodes for the presence of the RGXDestroyZSBufferKM interface in the loaded driverAffected if The RGXDestroyZSBufferKM entry point exists in the driver; this function is required for the exploit path
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Confirm Android is the target OSVerify the operating system is Android by checking 'getprop ro.build.version.sdk' or /proc/versionAffected if Running Google Android; this CVE is specific to Android according to the affected products listing
A device is affected if it runs Google Android with an Imagination Technologies PowerVR GPU that has the RGXDestroyZSBufferKM kernel-mode driver interface present and loaded.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
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.
From vendor dataApply vendor patches for Imagination Technologies PowerVR GPU drivers/firmware; prioritize patching kernel-facing GPU components on affected systems.
- Consultation8.0 h
- Implementation16.0 h
- Testing12.0 h
- Review / QA8.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $12,352.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-21403 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2023-21403 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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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.
- 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
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