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5th Gen Gpu Architecture Kernel DriverApplication · Arm

CVE-2023-32804

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-12-04
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
80/100
Remediation priority · High
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
Out-of-bounds Write vulnerability in Arm Ltd Midgard GPU Userspace Driver, Arm Ltd Bifrost GPU Userspace Driver, Arm Ltd Valhall GPU Userspace Driver, Arm Ltd Arm 5th Gen GPU Architecture Userspace Driver allows a local non-privileged user to write a constant pattern to a limited amount of memory not allocated by the user space driver.This issue affects Midgard GPU Userspace Driver: from r0p0 through r32p0; Bifrost GPU Userspace Driver: from r0p0 through r44p0; Valhall GPU Userspace Driver: from r19p0 through r44p0; Arm 5th Gen GPU Architecture Userspace Driver: from r41p0 through r44p0.

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

Out-of-bounds Write vulnerability in Arm GPU userspace drivers (Midgard, Bifrost, Valhall, and 5th Gen) allows a local non-privileged user to write a constant pattern to memory not allocated by the driver, potentially leading to memory corruption and privilege escalation.

MitigationUpdate Arm GPU userspace drivers to versions beyond r32p0 (Midgard), r44p0 (Bifrost/Valhall), or r44p0 (5th Gen) as specified in the advisory. Apply through system package updates or obtain patched drivers from Arm/OEM.

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
5th Gen Gpu Architecture Kernel DriverApplication
Affected:>= r41p0, <= r44p0
Bifrost Gpu Kernel DriverApplication
Affected:>= r0p0, <= r44p0
Midgard Gpu Kernel DriverApplication
Affected:>= r0p0, <= r32p0
Valhall Gpu Kernel DriverApplication
Affected:>= r19p0, <= r44p0

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. Check for Arm Mali GPU hardware presence
    Examine /sys/bus/platform/devices or run lspci to list GPU devices. Look for Mali GPU identifiers (e.g., Mali-T, Mali-G) in the output.
    Affected if No Arm Mali GPU hardware found means not affected by this CVE.
  2. Identify the GPU architecture family
    Determine which Arm GPU architecture is in use: Midgard (older Mali-T series), Bifrost (Mali-G series), Valhall (newer Mali-G series), or 5th Gen. Consult system documentation or driver information for the specific architecture.
    Affected if The CVE affects Midgard, Bifrost, Valhall, and 5th Gen architectures - verify which one applies to your system.
  3. Locate the installed Arm GPU userspace driver version
    Check driver package version using system package manager (dpkg -l, rpm -qa) or examine driver files in /usr/lib/ or /opt/ for Mali driver libraries (libMali.so or similar). The version string typically appears in the package name or driver filename.
    Affected if Driver version cannot be determined may indicate no Arm GPU drivers are installed.
  4. Compare installed version against affected ranges
    For Midgard: compare version to r0p0 through r32p0. For Bifrost: compare to r0p0 through r44p0. For Valhall: compare to r19p0 through r44p0. For 5th Gen: compare to r41p0 through r44p0. Extract the version number from step 3 and check if it falls within these inclusive ranges.
    Affected if Installed version falls within the specified range for your architecture indicates potential vulnerability.
  5. Verify the GPU driver is actively loaded
    Check if the Mali driver module is loaded using lsmod | grep mali or examine running processes related to GPU rendering. The vulnerability requires the affected driver component to be actively handling GPU operations.
    Affected if Driver is not loaded or not in use reduces the likelihood of exploitation but does not eliminate the vulnerability if the driver is present at the affected version.

A system is affected if it contains Arm Mali GPU hardware running a userspace driver version within the specific architecture range (Midgard r0p0-r32p0, Bifrost r0p0-r44p0, Valhall r19p0-r44p0, or 5th Gen r41p0-r44p0) with the driver actively loaded.

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 Arm GPU userspace drivers to versions beyond r32p0 (Midgard), r44p0 (Bifrost/Valhall), or r44p0 (5th Gen) as specified in the advisory. Apply through system package updates or obtain patched drivers from Arm/OEM.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

r33p0 (Midgard), r45p0 (Bifrost, Valhall, 5th Gen)

  1. 1. Identify which Arm GPU architecture (Midgard, Bifrost, Valhall, or 5th Gen) is in use by checking the kernel driver module or device
  2. 2. Determine the current driver version by examining the loaded module version or checking /sys/module/mali_kbase/version (or equivalent path for your driver)
  3. 3. For Midgard GPUs: Upgrade to r33p0 or later
  4. 4. For Bifrost GPUs: Upgrade to r45p0 or later
  5. 5. For Valhall GPUs: Upgrade to r45p0 or later
  6. 6. For 5th Gen GPUs: Upgrade to r45p0 or later
  7. 7. Obtain the updated driver from your system-on-chip (SoC) vendor or Arm's official driver distribution
  8. 8. Apply the driver update following your vendor's standard kernel module update procedure
Caveat Driver updates may require kernel version compatibility checks; ensure your kernel version supports the new GPU driver

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

Fix this in 5th Gen Gpu Architecture Kernel Driver Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
10.0 hours of engineering $1,750
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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-2023-32804 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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