CVE-2025-46709
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 · uneditedPossible memory leak or kernel exceptions caused by reading kernel heap data after free or NULL pointer dereference kernel exception.
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 confidenceThis is a kernel-level vulnerability involving either a use-after-free condition (reading kernel heap data after it has been freed) or NULL pointer dereference, which can lead to kernel exceptions or memory leaks. The vulnerability is locally exploitable and could allow an attacker to cause denial of service (kernel panic) or potentially escalate privileges to root.
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>= 1.17, <= 25.1CVSS 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
- None
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/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 Imaginationtech GPU driver presenceCheck if Imaginationtech DDK driver is present on the system by examining /lib/modules/$(uname -r)/kernel/drivers/ for directories or modules containing 'img', 'powervr', or 'imagination' in the name. Also run 'lsmod | grep -i img' to list loaded Imagination modules.Affected if Imaginationtech driver modules are loaded or present in the kernel module directory.
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Retrieve installed DDK versionUse 'modinfo' on any identified Imagination driver module, for example: 'modinfo <module_name>' and look for the 'version' or 'srcversion' field. Alternatively, check the driver file metadata in /sys/module/<module_name>/version if available.Affected if The displayed version falls within the range >= 1.17 and <= 25.1.
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Check kernel log for driver initializationRun 'dmesg | grep -i -E "(imagination|img|powervr)"' to review kernel messages related to the Imagination driver during boot or module loading. Note any version strings or error messages.Affected if Kernel logs show a DDK version in the range 1.17 to 25.1.
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Verify driver configuration statusCheck if the vulnerable driver component is actively in use by examining /proc/modules or running 'lsmod' to confirm the Imagination driver module is loaded. Also check /sys/class/drm/ for GPU device entries related to Imagination hardware.Affected if The Imagination driver module appears in the list of loaded modules and the system has Imagination GPU hardware present.
A system is affected if it has Imaginationtech DDK driver version 1.17 through 25.1 loaded and actively in use, as the use-after-free or NULL pointer dereference vulnerability requires the vulnerable driver component to be present and running.
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 the corresponding kernel security patch from the OS vendor, or update the kernel to a patched version. If no patch is available, consider compensating controls such as restricting local access to untrusted users or deploying kernel self-protection mechanisms.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2025-46709 — 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-2025-46709 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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- 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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