Arm Mali Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) Use-After-Free Vulnerability

[ Why it matters ]Priority signals

• Exploited in the wild: on CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities list since 2021-11-03
• EPSS: 12% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days (higher than 96% of CVEs)

[ Description ]Official description

The Arm Mali GPU kernel driver allows privilege escalation or information disclosure because GPU memory operations are mishandled, leading to a use-after-free. This affects Bifrost r0p0 through r28p0 before r29p0, Valhall r19p0 through r28p0 before r29p0, and Midgard r4p0 through r30p0.

CISA: Arm Mali Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) kernel driver contains a use-after-free vulnerability that may allow a non-privileged user to make improper operations on GPU memory to gain root privilege, and/or disclose information.

[ Fixes ]Fixes and patches

CISA required action (US federal deadline 17 Nov 2021): Apply updates per vendor instructions.

No fix or interim patch is linked from our sources yet. Check the vendor references below and limit exposure of affected systems until a fix is available.

[ References ]References

• developer.arm.com/support/arm-security-updatesVendor Advisory
• developer.arm.com/support/arm-security-updates/mali-gpu-kernel-driverVendor Advisory
• github.com/lntrx/CVE-2021-28663Exploit
• www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalogUS Government Resource