Kernel memory access via tracking-page use-after-free
Published Oct 1, 2023 · Updated Oct 21, 2025
Use-after-free in affected Arm Mali GPU kernel drivers allows local users to access freed kernel memory through crafted GPU operations. A split tracking-page VMA lets concurrent teardown paths replace and free kctx->process_mm before kbasep_os_process_page_usage_drain updates its counters. A local non-privileged process with access to /dev/mali0 must win the teardown race; the published impact is limited to confidentiality.
Summary
What happened
Use-after-free in affected Arm Mali GPU kernel drivers allows local users to access freed kernel memory through crafted GPU operations. A split tracking-page VMA lets concurrent teardown paths replace and free kctx->process_mm before kbasep_os_process_page_usage_drain updates its counters. A local non-privileged process with access to /dev/mali0 must win the teardown race; the published impact is limited to confidentiality.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2023-4211
- Published
- Oct 1, 2023
- Updated
- Oct 21, 2025
- Vendor
- Arm
- Product
- Valhall GPU Kernel Driver
- Classifications
- CWE-416, CAPEC-233, T1068
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Oct 1, 2023CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Oct 21, 2025Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
Present is not the same as exploitable
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Is a vulnerable build present?
Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.
- Affected versionversion=r19p0 <=r42p0
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.
Attacks
What attackers are doing with it
Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.
Weakness, pattern, technique
Public exploit references
- Project Zero patch-assisted tracking-page race triggerproof of concept · demonstrated
Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.
Reported exploitation
- CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog entryknown exploited catalog
Technologies
Your stack
See the directory against your own environment.
Your stack
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