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

Triage

Is it exploited, how likely is exploitation, what does it touch, and how severe do the sources call it.

CISA SSVC assessment CISA

Three decision points CISA publishes for the CVEs it assesses (SSVC 2.0.3). A stakeholder decision, not a severity score.

Remediation

Fixes and mitigations documented by the sources — linked to the original advisory.

No fix documented by the sources we poll. That does not mean none exists: check the vendor advisory.

CISA required action CISA

Apply updates per vendor instructions.

US federal deadline: Apr 20, 2023 — passed 1274 day(s) ago

First 24 hours

Ordered from the record’s own fields — exposure first, because you cannot patch what you have not found. A rule-generated starting point.

1. Identify exposed assets running the affected vendor/product/version combinations (Arm Bifrost GPU Kernel Driver, Arm Midgard GPU Kernel Driver, Arm Valhall GPU Kernel Driver).
2. Treat as emergency remediation: the CVE is in CISA KEV (confirmed exploitation).
3. No fix documented in the sources: reduce exposure and monitor the vendor advisory.
4. EPSS ahead of 97% of scored CVEs: prioritize it in the patch queue.
5. Search available logs for exploit probes matching the vulnerability class (memory corruption), errors and authentication anomalies.

Affected scope

Vendor, product and versions as the sources word them.

Attack characteristics

The CVSS vector, decoded. It describes the attack, not your exposure to it.

Every base score collected

Sources score independently and may disagree; each row says who scored it and under which version.

Weakness MITRE

Weakness class according to MITRE’s CWE catalog.

CWE-416 · Use After Free

Other CVEs with this weakness →

CISA KEV details CISA

CISA lists a CVE once it has evidence of exploitation against real targets.

CISA records ransomware use only for campaigns it has confirmed, so “Unknown” means unrecorded, not ruled out. The deadline binds US federal agencies; for everyone else it is a reference date.

Public exploits, PoCs and detection templates

Public code that demonstrates or tests the flaw raises the odds of mass exploitation — and Nuclei templates help find vulnerable assets in your environment.

Warning: public PoCs are sometimes disguised malware. Use them only for authorized testing in an isolated environment. This portal does not host exploit code — it only points to the sources.

EPSS over time FIRST

Oct 12, 2026 → Oct 14, 2026 · 3 reading(s) · max 14.09%

Detection

Read off the CVSS vector and the weakness class. Starting points, not tested rules.

• Prioritize edge telemetry for the network-reachable component (proxy, WAF, IDS/IPS).
• Correlate service crashes/restarts with inbound traffic; repeated crashes may indicate attempts.
• Hunt retroactively in logs from before Mar 30, 2023 (KEV listing): exploitation may have started earlier.

Timeline

What happened to this CVE, newest first.

• 2026
• Affected products added · arm/bifrost gpu kernel driver, arm/midgard gpu kernel driver, arm/valhall gpu kernel driver
  Oct 13, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
• Source status changed · Published → Analyzed
  Oct 13, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
• Record published
  Oct 13, 2026
• CVSS changed · 8.8
  Oct 13, 2026 · CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
• Source status changed · → Published
  Oct 13, 2026 · CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
• SSVC assessment updated
  Oct 13, 2026 · CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
• Added to CISA KEV (detected)
  Oct 13, 2026 · CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities
• Record created in this database
  Oct 13, 2026 · CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities
• 2023
• Added to CISA KEV catalog
  Mar 29, 2023 · CISA
• 2022
• CVE published
  Oct 25, 2022 · mitre

Source activity

Repeated readings are counted rather than listed.

• 3× References added · Oct 13, 2026 – Oct 13, 2026
• 1× Official description updated · Oct 13, 2026 – Oct 13, 2026

References

10 on the record

• developer.arm.com/Arm%20Security%20Center/Mali%20GPU%20Driver%20Vulnerabilities
  Vendor Advisory, CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
• developer.arm.com/support/arm-security-updates
  Vendor Advisory, CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
• www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog
  US Government Resource, NIST National Vulnerability Database
• github.blog/2023-01-23-pwning-the-all-google-phone-with-a-non-google-bug
  GitHub Security Advisories
• github.blog/2023-01-23-pwning-the-all-google-phone-with-a-non-google-bug/
  Exploit, Third Party Advisory, CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
• nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-38181
  GitHub Security Advisories
• packetstormsecurity.com/files/172854/Android-Arm-Mali-GPU-Arbitrary-Code-Execution.html
  Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry, CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
• securitylab.github.com/advisories/GHSL-2022-054_Arm_Mali
  GitHub Security Advisories
• github.com/advisories/GHSA-h73c-qgg5-q5rp
  GitHub Security Advisories
• securitylab.github.com/advisories/GHSL-2022-054_Arm_Mali/
  Exploit, Third Party Advisory, CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP

Elsewhere on this site

Related CVEs (same products)

• Medium CVE-2025-6349 Mali GPU Kernel Driver allows improper GPU memory processing operations Dec 1, 2025
• Medium CVE-2025-8045 Mali GPU Kernel Driver allows improper GPU processing operations Dec 1, 2025
• Medium CVE-2025-2879 Mali GPU Kernel Driver allows improper GPU processing operations Dec 1, 2025
• High CVE-2024-4610 Arm Mali GPU Kernel Driver Use-After-Free Vulnerability KEV Jun 7, 2024
• Medium CVE-2023-4211 Arm Mali GPU Kernel Driver Use-After-Free Vulnerability KEV Oct 1, 2023
• Low CVE-2023-26083 Arm Mali GPU Kernel Driver Information Disclosure Vulnerability KEV Apr 6, 2023

Not in any source we poll

Listed rather than left blank: an empty field and an unmeasured one look identical on screen, and only one is a reason to look elsewhere.

• No fixed version, patch or mitigation documented.
• No confirmed IOCs, IP addresses, domains, file hashes, or malware artifacts supplied.
• No organization-specific asset inventory, compensating-control status, or patch deployment evidence supplied.
• No exploit packet captures, log samples, or incident case IDs supplied.

Answered from this record

Text assembled only from the fields above — no additional claims.

What should defenders know first?

CVE-2022-38181 is "Arm Mali GPU Kernel Driver Use-After-Free Vulnerability", rated High. It affects Bifrost GPU Kernel Driver (Arm); versions are in the scope table. It is in CISA KEV: there is evidence of real-world exploitation. CVSS 8.8 describes technical severity. EPSS 14.09% estimates the probability of exploitation in 30 days; neither replaces your asset context. First verify whether exposed or business-critical assets run the affected versions, apply vendor fixes or mitigations, and preserve logs for review.

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