dbcve.org
5th Gen Gpu Architecture Kernel DriverApplication · Arm

CVE-2025-0015

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-02-03
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
Use After Free vulnerability in Arm Ltd Valhall GPU Kernel Driver, Arm Ltd Arm 5th Gen GPU Architecture Kernel Driver allows a local non-privileged user process to make improper GPU processing operations to gain access to already freed memory.This issue affects Valhall GPU Kernel Driver: from r48p0 through r49p1, from r50p0 through r52p0; Arm 5th Gen GPU Architecture Kernel Driver: from r48p0 through r49p1, from r50p0 through r52p0.

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

Use After Free vulnerability in Arm Ltd Valhall GPU Kernel Driver and Arm 5th Gen GPU Architecture Kernel Driver allows a local non-privileged user process to make improper GPU processing operations to access already freed memory, potentially leading to privilege escalation or system instability.

MitigationUpdate GPU drivers to a version beyond r52p0 when patches become available from Arm Ltd; for Android devices, coordinate with device manufacturers for kernel/driver updates.

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:>= r48p0, < r49p2>= r50p0, < r53p0
Valhall Gpu Kernel DriverApplication
Affected:>= r48p0, < r49p2>= r50p0, < r53p0

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 Arm GPU kernel driver is loaded
    Run 'lsmod | grep -iE "mali|panfrost|arm"' to list loaded GPU-related kernel modules
    Affected if No Arm GPU modules appear, meaning this CVE does not apply to the system
  2. Get the Mali GPU driver version via modinfo
    Run 'modinfo panfrost 2>/dev/null || modinfo mali_kbase 2>/dev/null || modinfo arm_mali 2>/dev/null' and look for the 'version' or ' vermagic' field
    Affected if The driver version falls within >= r48p0 and < r49p2, or >= r50p0 and < r53p0
  3. Check dmesg for driver initialization
    Run 'dmesg | grep -iE "mali|arm.*gpu|valhall"' to see GPU driver version messages at boot time
    Affected if Version strings indicate r48p0 through r49p1, or r50p0 through r52p0 inclusive
  4. Query GPU information via sysfs or debugfs
    Check 'ls /sys/class/drm/*/device/' for GPU info, then 'cat /sys/class/drm/*/device/version' 2>/dev/null if available, or look in /sys/kernel/debug/mali* for driver details
    Affected if The reported driver version matches the affected ranges above
  5. Identify exact driver package on Android
    On Android, check 'getprop | grep -i marlin' or check '/vendor/lib/modules/' directory for Mali GPU kernel modules and note their version suffixes in the filename
    Affected if Module filename contains version string in the affected ranges

The system is affected only if an Arm Valhall or 5th Gen GPU kernel driver is loaded and its version is r48p0 through r49p1, or r50p0 through r52p0 (versions below r49p2 or below r53p0 in the specified ranges).

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 GPU drivers to a version beyond r52p0 when patches become available from Arm Ltd; for Android devices, coordinate with device manufacturers for kernel/driver updates.

Recommended fix High confidence

Upgrade to r49p2 (for r48p0-r49p1 range) or r53p0 or later (for r50p0-r52p0 range); recommend r53p0 or newer for all affected versions

  1. 1. Identify the currently installed Arm GPU kernel driver version using 'modinfo' or checking /sys/module/mali_kbase/version
  2. 2. If running driver version r48p0 through r49p1, upgrade to r49p2 or later
  3. 3. If running driver version r50p0 through r52p0, upgrade to r53p0 or later
  4. 4. For comprehensive coverage across all affected versions, upgrade to r53p0 or newer
  5. 5. Verify the new driver version matches the target release after installation
  6. 6. Reboot the system to load the updated kernel driver
  7. 7. Confirm the driver loads without errors and GPU functionality is operational
Caveat Kernel driver updates may require matching user-space libraries; ensure GPU user-space components are compatible with the new driver version before production deployment

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
  • Consultation8.0 h
  • Implementation16.0 h
  • Testing12.0 h
  • Review / QA8.0 h
44.0 hours of engineering $7,720
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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-2025-0015 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

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What belongs here
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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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