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5th Gen Gpu Architecture Kernel DriverApplication · Arm

CVE-2025-0073

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-06-02
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 perform improper GPU memory processing operations to gain access to already freed memory.This issue affects Valhall GPU Kernel Driver: from r53p0 before r54p0; Arm 5th Gen GPU Architecture Kernel Driver: from r53p0 before r54p0.

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 perform improper GPU memory processing operations to gain access to already freed memory. The vulnerability exists in GPU kernel drivers from r53p0 before r54p0, enabling potential local privilege escalation through memory corruption.

MitigationUpdate GPU kernel drivers to version r54p0 or later to patch the Use After Free vulnerability. Apply the driver update across all affected systems running vulnerable Arm GPU hardware.

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:= r53p0
Valhall Gpu Kernel DriverApplication
Affected:= 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 Arm GPU hardware in the system
    Use system inventory commands such as 'lspci', 'dmidecode', or check /sys/class/drm for GPU devices to determine if Arm Valhall or Arm 5th Gen GPU hardware is present
    Affected if Arm Valhall or Arm 5th Gen GPU hardware is found in the system
  2. Locate the installed Arm GPU kernel driver
    Check /sys/module/ for module names related to Arm GPU drivers (common names include 'mali', 'panfrost', or 'valhall'), or run 'lsmod' to list loaded kernel modules and identify Arm GPU driver modules
    Affected if An Arm GPU kernel driver module is loaded in the system
  3. Determine the installed driver version
    Read the driver version from the module information using 'modinfo <driver_module_name>' or check /sys/module/<driver_module_name>/version to obtain the exact driver release version string
    Affected if The driver version is reported as r53p0 specifically
  4. Verify GPU memory processing capabilities
    Confirm that the GPU driver exposes memory processing interfaces accessible to user space processes, which can be verified by checking for device files in /dev/ (such as /dev/dri/*) or checking driver configuration options in /sys/class/gpu/ if available
    Affected if GPU device nodes exist and are accessible to user processes, enabling the improper GPU memory operations described in the CVE

A system is affected if it contains Arm Valhall or Arm 5th Gen GPU hardware running the r53p0 version of the GPU kernel driver with accessible GPU memory processing capabilities.

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 kernel drivers to version r54p0 or later to patch the Use After Free vulnerability. Apply the driver update across all affected systems running vulnerable Arm GPU hardware.

Recommended fix High confidence

r54p0

  1. Identify the current installed version of the Arm Valhall GPU Kernel Driver or Arm 5th Gen GPU Architecture Kernel Driver using system utilities (e.g., `modinfo` or checking /sys/module)
  2. Obtain the r54p0 driver package from Arm's official developer resources at developer.arm.com
  3. Follow the standard driver installation procedure for your Linux distribution: typically involves loading the new kernel module via `insmod` or `modprobe` after removing the old module with `rmmod`
  4. Reboot the system to ensure the new driver is loaded at boot
  5. Verify the installed driver version is r54p0 using `modinfo` or equivalent utility
Caveat Driver upgrades may require kernel compatibility verification; ensure the target kernel version supports r54p0 before upgrading

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
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation3.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
13.0 hours of engineering $2,300
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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-2025-0073 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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