{"id":"CVE-2022-38181","kind":"vulnerability","aliases":["CVE-2022-38181"],"related":[],"title":"The Arm Mali GPU kernel driver allows unprivileged users to access freed memory because GPU memory operations are…","description":"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.","summary":"Arm Mali GPU kernel driver has a use-after-free bug that lets a local non-privileged user gain root and/or read kernel information. CISA lists it as actively exploited.","severity":"high","cvss":8.8,"epss":null,"exploited":true,"exploited_at":"2023-03-30T00:00:00+00:00","products":[{"name":"Arm Mali Graphics Processing Unit (GPU)","fixed":[],"affected":"","ecosystem":"vendor"},{"name":"arm bifrost gpu kernel driver","fixed":[],"affected":">= r0p0, <= r38p1","ecosystem":"vendor"},{"name":"arm bifrost gpu kernel driver","fixed":[],"affected":"= r39p0","ecosystem":"vendor"},{"name":"arm midgard gpu kernel driver","fixed":[],"affected":">= r4p0, <= r31p0","ecosystem":"vendor"},{"name":"arm valhall gpu kernel driver","fixed":[],"affected":">= r19p0, <= r38p1","ecosystem":"vendor"},{"name":"arm valhall gpu kernel driver","fixed":[],"affected":"= r39p0","ecosystem":"vendor"}],"ecosystems":["vendor"],"tags":["android","arm-mali","embedded-linux","exploited","infrastructure"],"not_affected_if":["no-mali-gpu-driver"],"how_to_check":null,"fix":"Apply the updates from Arm per its vendor instructions; the specific fixed driver version is unknown from the sources.","status":"open","published_at":"2022-10-25T19:15:11+00:00","first_seen_at":"2026-10-23T19:11:52+00:00","triaged_at":"2026-10-23T21:08:26+00:00","updated_at":"2026-10-23T22:29:04+00:00","category":"infrastructure","confidence":0.8,"triage":{"at":"2026-10-23T21:08:26Z","model":"claude-haiku-5-5","output":{"fix":"Apply the updates from Arm per its vendor instructions; the specific fixed driver version is unknown from the sources.","reach":"local","impact":"high","summary":"Arm Mali GPU kernel driver has a use-after-free bug that lets a local non-privileged user gain root and/or read kernel information. CISA lists it as actively exploited.","category":"infrastructure","who_cares":["android","arm-mali","embedded-linux"],"confidence":0.8,"needs_auth":"yes","worst_case":"local unprivileged user gains root and reads kernel memory","analyst_note":"Find the Arm security bulletin for CVE-2022-38181 to get affected driver versions, fixed versions and a way to check the installed driver version.","how_to_check":"unknown","needs_analyst":true,"not_affected_if":["no-mali-gpu-driver"],"user_interaction":"no","needs_special_setup":"no","severity_if_unknown":"high"},"cost_usd":0.000447,"input_tokens":2825,"output_tokens":329,"severity_before":"unknown"},"analyst_status":null,"analyst_note":null,"search":"'-2022':19A,22A '-38181':20A,23A 'access':11A,106C 'activ':94B 'affect':116C 'allow':7A,102C 'and/or':86B 'android':55B 'arm':2A,24A,30A,35A,40A,45A,50A,57B,64B,97C 'arm-mali':56B 'bifrost':31A,36A,117C 'bug':75B 'cisa':90B 'cve':18A,21A 'driver':6A,34A,39A,44A,49A,54A,68B,101C 'embed':60B 'embedded-linux':59B 'exploit':62B,95B 'free':74B 'freed':12A,107C 'gain':84B 'gpu':4A,15A,29A,32A,37A,42A,47A,52A,66B,99C,110C 'graphics':26A 'inform':89B 'infrastructur':63B 'kernel':5A,33A,38A,43A,48A,53A,67B,88B,100C 'let':77B 'linux':61B 'list':91B 'local':79B 'mali':3A,25A,58B,65B,98C 'memori':13A,16A,108C,111C 'midgard':41A,130C 'mishandl':114C 'non':81B 'non-privileg':80B 'oper':17A,112C 'privileg':82B 'processing':27A 'r0p0':118C 'r19p0':124C 'r32p0':133C 'r38p1':120C,126C 'r39p0':122C,128C 'r4p0':131C 'read':87B 'root':85B 'unit':28A 'unprivileg':8A,103C 'use':72B 'use-after-fre':71B 'user':9A,83B,104C 'valhal':123C 'valhall':46A,51A","nicknames":[],"mitigations":[],"who_affected":null,"tier":null,"verified":{},"analyst_revisit_at":null,"first_public_at":"2022-10-25T19:15:11+00:00","kev":{"dateAdded":"2023-03-30","dueDate":"2023-04-20","requiredAction":"Apply updates per vendor instructions.","knownRansomwareCampaignUse":"Unknown"},"cvss_vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H","cvss_by":"nvd@nist.gov","poc_count":0,"sources":[{"source":"kev","external_id":"CVE-2022-38181","url":"https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?search_api_fulltext=CVE-2022-38181","severity":null,"published_at":"2023-03-30T00:00:00+00:00","modified_at":null,"first_seen_at":"2026-10-23T19:11:52+00:00","fetched_at":"2026-10-25T21:35:49+00:00","note":null},{"source":"nvd","external_id":"CVE-2022-38181","url":"https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-38181","severity":null,"published_at":"2022-10-25T19:15:11+00:00","modified_at":"2026-06-17T04:56:14+00:00","first_seen_at":"2026-10-23T22:29:04+00:00","fetched_at":"2026-10-23T22:29:04+00:00","note":null}],"documents":[],"notice":"Free to read at a human pace. An API with keys and an MCP server are in preparation; early access: hello@infrastack.ai"}