Vulnerability Monitor

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CVE-2022-38181

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.

Security Impact Summary

This vulnerability carries a HIGH severity rating with a CVSS v3.1 score of 8.8, indicating it can be exploited remotely over the network with relatively low complexity without requiring user interaction requiring only low-level privileges . The vulnerability impacts confidentiality (data exposure), integrity (unauthorized modifications), and availability (service disruption) for affected systems. Impacting 3 products from arm, from arm, from arm organizations running these solutions should prioritize assessment and patching.

Historical Context

Reported in 2022, this vulnerability emerged during an era marked by increased sophistication in supply chain attacks, cloud infrastructure vulnerabilities, and software-as-a-service (SaaS) security challenges. Security practices during this period emphasized zero-trust architectures, container security, and API protection.

Published

2022-10-25T19:15:11.487

Last Modified

2025-11-03T15:43:36.180

Status

Analyzed

Source

[email protected]

Severity

CVSSv3.1: 8.8 (HIGH)

Weaknesses

Type: Primary
CWE-416
Type: Secondary
CWE-416

Affected Vendors & Products

Type	Vendor	Product	Version/Range	Vulnerable?
Application	arm	bifrost_gpu_kernel_driver	≤ r38p1	Yes
Application	arm	bifrost_gpu_kernel_driver	r39p0	Yes
Application	arm	midgard_gpu_kernel_driver	≤ r31p0	Yes
Application	arm	valhall_gpu_kernel_driver	≤ r38p1	Yes
Application	arm	valhall_gpu_kernel_driver	r39p0	Yes

References

http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/172854/Android-Arm-Mali-GPU-Arbitrary-Code-Execution.html Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry ([email protected])
https://developer.arm.com/Arm%20Security%20Center/Mali%20GPU%20Driver%20Vulnerabilities Vendor Advisory ([email protected])
https://developer.arm.com/support/arm-security-updates Vendor Advisory ([email protected])
https://github.blog/2023-01-23-pwning-the-all-google-phone-with-a-non-google-bug/ Exploit, Third Party Advisory ([email protected])
https://securitylab.github.com/advisories/GHSL-2022-054_Arm_Mali/ Exploit, Third Party Advisory ([email protected])
http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/172854/Android-Arm-Mali-GPU-Arbitrary-Code-Execution.html Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
https://developer.arm.com/Arm%20Security%20Center/Mali%20GPU%20Driver%20Vulnerabilities Vendor Advisory (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
https://developer.arm.com/support/arm-security-updates Vendor Advisory (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
https://github.blog/2023-01-23-pwning-the-all-google-phone-with-a-non-google-bug/ Exploit, Third Party Advisory (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
https://securitylab.github.com/advisories/GHSL-2022-054_Arm_Mali/ Exploit, Third Party Advisory (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2022-38181 US Government Resource (134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0)

How SecUtils Interprets This CVE

SecUtils normalizes and enriches National Vulnerability Database (NVD) records by standardizing vendor and product identifiers, aggregating vulnerability metadata from both NVD and MITRE sources, and providing structured context for security teams. For arm's affected products, we extract Common Platform Enumeration (CPE) data, Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE) classifications, CVSS severity metrics, and reference data to enable rapid vulnerability prioritization and asset correlation. This record contains no exploit code, proof-of-concept instructions, or attack methodologies—only defensive intelligence necessary for patch management, risk assessment, and security operations.