CVE-2022-38181 — Arm Mali GPU Kernel Driver Use-After-Free Vulnerability

The Arm Mali GPU kernel driver allows unprivileged users to access freed memory because GPU memory operations are mishandled. This affects Bifrost r0p0 through r38p1, and r39p0; Valhall r19p0 through r38p1, and r39p0; and Midgard r4p0 through r32p0.

01What is this vulnerability?

The Arm Mali GPU kernel driver allows unprivileged users to access freed memory because GPU memory operations are mishandled. This affects Bifrost r0p0 through r38p1, and r39p0; Valhall r19p0 through r38p1, and r39p0; and Midgard r4p0 through r32p0.

02Affected products

Vendor	Product	Versions
n	a / n/a	n/a

03Active exploitation status

Yes — actively exploited. Added to the CISA KEV catalog on 2023-03-30. Ransomware use: Unknown.

04Recommended remediation

• Patch to a fixed version listed in the vendor advisory (see references below).
• Mitigate with WAF rules, network egress filters, or feature flags where the patch is not yet available.
• Hunt historical logs for exploitation indicators — see Detection signatures below.

05Technical details

For the full vendor write-up, exploit chains, and reference implementations, see the references list in section 09.

06Detection signatures

Open the Sigma generator with a pre-filled prompt for this CVE to draft a starting detection in your stack of choice:

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07Related CVEs

No directly-cited follow-up CVEs in the KB record for this advisory. The references list in section 09 carries the vendor cross-references.

08Timeline

• Published: 2022-10-25T00:00:00.000Z
• Last modified: 2025-10-21T23:15:32.846Z
• Added to CISA KEV: 2023-03-30
• BOD 22-01 due: 2023-04-20

09References

• developer.arm.com — https://developer.arm.com/support/arm-security-updates
• developer.arm.com — https://developer.arm.com/Arm%20Security%20Center/Mali%20GPU%20Driver%20Vulnerab…
• github.blog — https://github.blog/2023-01-23-pwning-the-all-google-phone-with-a-non-google-bug…
• securitylab.github.com — https://securitylab.github.com/advisories/GHSL-2022-054_Arm_Mali/
• packetstormsecurity.com — http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/172854/Android-Arm-Mali-GPU-Arbitrary-Code-…