CVE-2023-26083Arm Mali GPU Kernel Driver Information Disclosure Vulnerability
CVE-2023-26083 is a memory leak in Arm Mali Graphics Processing Unit (GPU), rated low (3.3 on CVSS 3.1).
Why this priority: Exploited in the wild: listed in CISA's KEV catalog.
Published · Updated · NVD status: Analyzed
What it is
Memory is never released, so repeated requests exhaust it.
How it is reached
An attacker can exploit it by someone who can already run code or sign in on the machine, with an ordinary user account, and nobody has to click anything.
What an attacker gains
The direct impact is limited: partial access to data or a partial outage. In practice, this kind of flaw lets an attacker exhaust CPU, memory or connections until the service stops answering.
Is it being exploited?
CISA added it to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on 2023-04-07: it is being exploited in the wild. EPSS estimates a 1.2% chance of exploitation activity in the next 30 days, higher than 69% of scored CVEs.
What to do
- Treat it as urgent: it is on CISA's KEV list. CISA's deadline for US federal agencies: 2023-04-28.
- No fixed version is listed yet. Find every place Arm Mali Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) runs, watch the references for a fix, and plan a replacement if it is no longer supported.
- Limit who can run code or sign in on the hosts that run it.
- Check exposed instances for signs of compromise, not only for the version.
Description from NVD
Memory leak vulnerability in Mali GPU Kernel Driver in Midgard GPU Kernel Driver all versions from r6p0 - r32p0, Bifrost GPU Kernel Driver all versions from r0p0 - r42p0, Valhall GPU Kernel Driver all versions from r19p0 - r42p0, and Avalon GPU Kernel Driver all versions from r41p0 - r42p0 allows a non-privileged user to make valid GPU processing operations that expose sensitive kernel metadata.
What this means for your architecture.
A CVE names a product. Whether it matters depends on where that product sits in your systems: what reaches it, which trust boundary it guards and what it can reach once compromised. Veriom maps your components, their relationships and your trust boundaries from your code, cloud and delivery evidence, so you can see where a component like this sits. The radar itself does not look at your systems.
Components it touches
- Public entry points and shared services that must stay up. The flaw sits between untrusted traffic and shared capacity.
Trust boundaries in play
- Host boundary. The attacker needs a foothold on the machine first; the flaw turns a small foothold into a bigger one.
- Between untrusted traffic and shared capacity. An attacker who crosses it can exhaust CPU, memory or connections until the service stops answering.
Questions to answer about your own systems
- Where does Arm Mali Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) run in your systems, and at which version?
- Which of those hosts also run code or users you do not fully trust?
- What can it reach once compromised: which data stores, secrets and services?
Sources
- CVE records and CVSS scores from the NVD CVE API. This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD.
- Exploitation status from CISA’s Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog.
- Exploit likelihood from FIRST’s Exploit Prediction Scoring System (EPSS), refreshed daily.
- Explanations are written by Veriom from fixed templates over each record’s data, not by a person reviewing each CVE. Descriptions are quoted from the records as published.