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Actively exploited in the wild. This CVE is on the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities list — treat remediation as urgent. Federal remediation due by 24 Oct 2023.
5th Gen Gpu Architecture Kernel DriverApplication · Arm

CVE-2023-4211

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-10-01
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
A local non-privileged user can make improper GPU memory processing operations to gain access to already freed memory.

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 · moderate confidence

A use-after-free vulnerability in GPU memory processing allows a local non-privileged user to access already freed memory through improper GPU memory operations. This memory corruption issue could enable privilege escalation or information disclosure.

MitigationApply vendor-supplied patches or updates to the affected GPU driver/kernel module. Implement proper memory lifecycle management with validation checks before accessing GPU memory pointers.

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, < r43p0
Bifrost Gpu Kernel DriverApplication
Affected:>= r0p0, < r43p0
Midgard Gpu Kernel DriverApplication
Affected:>= r12p0, <= r32p0
Valhall Gpu Kernel DriverApplication
Affected:>= r19p0, < r43p0

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
None
Availability
None

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

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 Arm Mali GPU kernel driver is loaded
    Check /proc/modules or use 'lsmod' command to list loaded kernel modules. Look for modules named 'mali' or 'arm_mali' or similar Mali GPU driver modules.
    Affected if No Arm Mali driver modules found means likely not affected, but continue to verify GPU hardware presence.
  2. Determine the installed GPU driver version
    Check the driver version via 'modinfo <mali_module_name>' or look in /sys/module/<mali_module_name>/version. Note the version string (e.g., r42p0, r32p0).
    Affected if The driver version falls within any of these ranges: r41p0 to r42p9 (5th Gen), r0p0 to r42p9 (Bifrost), r12p0 to r32p0 (Midgard), or r19p0 to r42p9 (Valhall).
  3. Identify GPU hardware model
    Check /sys/class/drm/*/device or use 'lspci | grep -i gpu' to identify the Arm Mali GPU model (e.g., Bifrost, Midgard, Valhall, 5th Gen).
    Affected if The GPU hardware corresponds to one of the affected architectures (Bifrost, Midgard, Valhall, or 5th Gen) and the driver version is in the affected range.
  4. Verify kernel version compatibility
    Use 'uname -r' to check the running kernel and cross-reference with the driver version via 'dmesg | grep -i mali' for driver load messages.
    Affected if Kernel is running with the affected driver version loaded.

A system is affected if it runs any Arm Mali GPU kernel driver with a version between the affected ranges for its specific GPU architecture (Bifrost, Midgard, Valhall, or 5th Gen).

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

Apply vendor-supplied patches or updates to the affected GPU driver/kernel module. Implement proper memory lifecycle management with validation checks before accessing GPU memory pointers.

Recommended fix High confidence

r43p0 (or any version >= r43p0) for the respective Mali GPU driver generation (5th Gen, Bifrost, Midgard, or Valhall)

  1. Identify the specific ARM Mali GPU driver in use ( Bifrost, Midgard, Valhall, or 5th Gen ) by checking the kernel module or dmesg output
  2. Locate the Mali GPU kernel driver package in your build system or kernel source
  3. Obtain the updated driver version r43p0 or later from Arm's developer website or your kernel/board support package provider
  4. Replace the existing Mali GPU driver module (typically named mali_kbase.ko or similar) with the updated version from r43p0
  5. Reboot the system or reload the driver module to load the fixed version
  6. Verify the loaded driver version matches r43p0 or later using 'modinfo' or checking /sys/module/mali*/version
Caveat Driver upgrades may require kernel API compatibility checks; ensure the new driver version is compatible with your kernel version before deploying

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

Fix this in 5th Gen Gpu Architecture Kernel Driver Exploited in the wild — priority engagement
  • Consultation6.0 h
  • Implementation12.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA3.0 h
27.0 hours of engineering $4,800
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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-2023-4211 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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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