Arm Mali GPU Kernel Driver Unspecified Vulnerability (CVE-2022-22706)
Published In CISA KEV since Sources: pwn.watch, OSV, CVE.org
What is affected, what to do
Arm Mali GPU Kernel Driver allows a non-privileged user to achieve write access to read-only memory pages. This affects Midgard r26p0 through r31p0, Bifrost r0p0 through r35p0, and Valhall r19p0 through r35p0.
The vulnerability is being actively exploited; treat it as a priority. Update ARM Bifrost GPU Kernel Driver to version r36p0, Arm Midgard GPU Kernel Driver to version r32p0, ARM Valhall GPU Kernel Driver to version r36p0. Immediate actions, mitigation and detection rules are in the runbook below.
- Affected
- ARM Bifrost GPU Kernel Driver
lt r0p0..r36p0 - Arm Midgard GPU Kernel Driver
lt r26p0..r32p0 - ARM Valhall GPU Kernel Driver
lt r19p0..r36p0
- ARM Bifrost GPU Kernel Driver
- Fixed in
- ARM Bifrost GPU Kernel Driver
r36p0 - Arm Midgard GPU Kernel Driver
r32p0 - ARM Valhall GPU Kernel Driver
r36p0
- ARM Bifrost GPU Kernel Driver
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Metrics
7.8
Priority
XIEM Effective CVSS: highest available CVSS rating from NVD and vendor data.
Source: NVD, CVSS v3
7.8
CVSS v3
Severity High on the scale from 0 to 10.
Source: pwn.watch, OSV, CVE.org
1.1 %
EPSS score
Moderate — model estimates 1-10% exploitation likelihood.
Source: FIRST EPSS, percentile 64.8
Show all metrics
- Severity
- Critical
Priority (0–325)
The priority score is a consolidated metric that condenses several individual signals into a single, action-guiding ranking: technical severity (CVSS), exploitation likelihood (EPSS), known-exploited status (KEV) and the context of the affected asset. The aim is to answer the only truly important question in vulnerability management: what first?
Read in glossary- 173.03 Methodology
Exploit maturity
An exploit is code or a technique that specifically uses a concrete vulnerability to force unintended behaviour — such as executing code or escalating privileges. It is the tool that turns a theoretical flaw into a practical attack.
Read in glossary- actively exploited
XIEM Effective CVSS
XIEM® is the tiered managed-security operating model from NEOSEC and a registered trademark of NEOSEC GmbH. It extends classic SIEM — the central collection, normalisation and correlation of security-relevant events — with endpoint forensics, network visibility and deception technology, and consolidates them into three building tiers: Sentry, Orchestrate and Command.
Read in glossary- 7.8 Methodology
CVSS v3
CVSS is the globally established, open standard for assessing the technical severity of a vulnerability on a scale from 0 to 10. It describes how easily a flaw can be exploited and what damage it can cause — but not how likely its actual exploitation is. CVSS and the complementary EPSS deliberately answer different questions.
Read in glossary- 7.8
EPSS score
The EPSS score is the absolute model output for an individual vulnerability: the estimated probability of real-world exploitation within the next 30 days, expressed as a value between 0 and 1 (i.e. 0 % to 100 %). A score of 0.42 means „the model estimates a 42 % chance of real-world exploitation within 30 days“.
Read in glossary- 1.1 %
- Moderate — model estimates 1-10% exploitation likelihood.
EPSS percentile
The EPSS percentile is the relative position of a vulnerability within all EPSS-scored CVEs, expressed as a value between 0 and 1. A percentile of 0.90 means „this CVE has a higher EPSS score than 90 % of all other scored CVEs“. Unlike the EPSS score, it is not a probability — but a positioning within a ranking.
Read in glossary- 64.8
- High — this CVE ranks above the median of all CVEs scored today (rank ≥ 36%).
KEV status
The KEV catalogue is a list maintained by the US authority CISA of vulnerabilities for which active exploitation in the wild has been confirmed. It answers not the question „how severe?“ but „is it already being attacked?“ — thereby sharply prioritising patching.
Read in glossary- Actively exploited
- Published
In CISA KEV since
The KEV catalogue is a list maintained by the US authority CISA of vulnerabilities for which active exploitation in the wild has been confirmed. It answers not the question „how severe?“ but „is it already being attacked?“ — thereby sharply prioritising patching.
Read in glossary- CISA assessment (SSVC)
- Exploitation: active · not automatable · Technical impact: total
- Source: CISA Vulnrichment, as of 29 January 2025
CWE
CWE is a catalogue of typical weakness types in software and hardware — such as flawed input validation, unsafe memory handling or poor authentication. Where a CVE names a concrete vulnerability in a concrete product, a CWE describes the underlying class of defect.
Read in glossary- CWE-119
Response and mitigation
Why act now?
Prioritisation rationale
The flaw lets an unprivileged app that already runs locally write to read-only memory pages and escalate to kernel or root privileges. That makes it a classic second-stage component in mobile exploit chains, the kind used for targeted surveillance of individuals. CISA reports no known ransomware use, and broad-scale exploitation likelihood is moderate. For organisations with a managed Android fleet that reaches sensitive or critical-infrastructure systems, the priority is still high, because a compromised executive or admin device hands over MFA factors and credentials. Organisations with no Mali-based devices accessing corporate resources can handle this in the regular patch cycle.
Runbook step 1
Immediate response (0-24 h)
- Inventory affected devices: Use MDM/UEM (Intune, Workspace ONE, MobileIron or similar) to identify every Android device with an Arm Mali GPU (e.g. Samsung Exynos, Google Tensor, MediaTek and HiSilicon SoCs), plus embedded Linux, IoT and Chromebook systems running the Mali driver. Filter: Android security patch level older than 2023-06-05.
- Deploy or enforce the fix: Set Android security patch level 2023-06-05 or later as the minimum compliance baseline and push OTA updates now. For custom kernels and embedded images, upgrade the Midgard driver to r32p0 and the Bifrost and Valhall drivers to r36p0. Patch available from the vendor — look up the exact firmware builds in the relevant OEM advisory.
- Isolate unpatchable devices: Use Conditional Access to block devices without vendor support (end-of-life, or OEM never shipped a June 2023 update) from email, VPN, M365/SSO and critical business applications.
- Prioritise high-value users: Patch or replace devices belonging to executives, administrators, control-room staff and anyone with privileged remote access first. Local kernel bugs of this class typically appear in exploit chains against hand-picked mobile targets.
- Triage suspected compromise: If an unpatched device shows anomalies (root detection, unknown apps, battery or data-usage spikes), pull it from service and arrange forensic acquisition. Revoke all credentials and tokens bound to it, including MFA seeds and corporate certificates.
Runbook step 2
Mitigation layers
- Configuration/MDM: Restrict app installs to managed sources (Managed Google Play) and block "unknown sources" and USB debugging by policy. Exploitation requires local code execution, meaning a malicious or compromised app.
- IAM: Gate access with Conditional Access: require a passing Play Integrity verdict (device/strong integrity) and patch level ≥ 2023-06-05. Enforce Android Enterprise work-profile separation.
- Mobile Threat Defense: Enable an MTD product (e.g. Defender for Endpoint mobile, Lookout, Zimperium) with privilege-escalation and root detection, and feed its risk signal into Conditional Access.
- Network segmentation: Keep mobile and BYOD Wi-Fi separate from server, OT and management networks, with no direct path from those segments to admin interfaces.
- Embedded/IoT hardening: On Linux systems with a Mali GPU, use udev rules to restrict
/dev/mali0permissions to the service accounts and groups that actually need it. Remove shell access for unprivileged users and run SELinux in enforcing mode.
Runbook step 3
Detection rules
- MDM compliance telemetry: Run a daily report of devices below the 2023-06-05 patch level. Example KQL (Intune data):
IntuneDevices | where OS == "Android" and todatetime(SecurityPatchLevel) < datetime(2023-06-05). - Integrity loss: Alert when a device flips from integrity "passed" to "failed", or when MTD/MDM reports root status. Either is a possible sign of successful privilege escalation.
- Linux auditd (embedded/Chromebook dev devices):
-w /dev/mali0 -p rwa -k mali_access. Alert on access from processes outside the expected graphics/compositor services, especially when followed byexecvewitheuid=0from a previously unprivileged process tree. - Network telemetry (Zeek/Suricata): Flag unusual outbound connections from mobile segments to newly registered domains or rare destinations shortly after an app install or a visit to a crafted web page. This is typical spyware-implant behaviour.
- MDM compliance telemetry: Run a daily report of devices below the 2023-06-05 patch level. Example KQL (Intune data):
Detection rules
No NEOSEC detection rule is available for this vulnerability yet.
Classification under NIS2 and CRA
Rule-based classification from exploitation status and severity. It does not replace a case-by-case assessment.
NIS2
NIS2 is EU Directive (EU) 2022/2555 to raise the level of cybersecurity across the Union. It substantially broadens obligations compared with the first NIS directive: more sectors, mandatory risk management, staged reporting duties and personal accountability of senior management.
Read in glossary- Actively exploited: treat the vulnerability as a priority in vulnerability handling under Art. 21(2)(e) NIS2. If it is exploited in your environment, check the reporting obligation under Art. 23 (early warning within 24 hours).
CRA
The CRA is EU Regulation (EU) 2024/2847 setting horizontal cybersecurity requirements for „products with digital elements“ — from industrial controllers and software to connected consumer devices. For the first time manufacturers must ensure security across the entire product lifecycle, handle vulnerabilities and provide security updates.
Read in glossary- Since 11.09.2026, manufacturers of affected products with digital elements must report actively exploited vulnerabilities under Art. 14 CRA, with an early warning within 24 hours via ENISA's single reporting platform.
ISO/IEC 27001
ISO/IEC 27001 is the internationally leading standard for an information security management system (ISMS). It describes a risk-based, process-oriented framework to systematically plan, implement, review and improve information security.
Read in glossary- Control A.8.8, management of technical vulnerabilities: assess relevance to your systems, plan remediation and keep evidence.
Description
Arm Mali GPU Kernel Driver allows a non-privileged user to achieve write access to read-only memory pages. This affects Midgard r26p0 through r31p0, Bifrost r0p0 through r35p0, and Valhall r19p0 through r35p0.
Source: pwn.watch, OSV (Open Source Vulnerabilities), NVD (NIST), cvelistv5, CISA KEV Catalog, CVE.org (MITRE)
Affected products
The following versions are affected. Older releases of the same product line are also vulnerable unless stated otherwise.
| Affected versions | Fixed in | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| arm | bifrost_gpu_kernel_driver |
|
|
| arm | midgard_gpu_kernel_driver |
|
|
| arm | valhall_gpu_kernel_driver |
|
|
| android | :unknown: |
|
|
Vendors and products
Weakness classes (CWE)
CWE-119Improper Restriction of Operations within the Bounds of a Memory Buffer
Class
The product performs operations on a memory buffer, but it reads from or writes to a memory location outside the buffer's intended boundary. This may result in read or write operations on unexpected memory locations that could be linked to other variables, data structures, or internal program data.
Entry at MITRE CWE-119
Public exploit references
Publicly reported proof-of-concepts, exploit modules and detection templates for this vulnerability. NEOSEC links to the original sources only and does not provide any exploit code.
| CISA KEV Catalog | CISA Known Exploited Vulnerability (opens in a new tab)cisa.gov | actively exploited |
References & sources
- source.android.comsecurity/bulletin/2023-06-01advisory
- developer.arm.comsupport/arm-security-updatesx_refsource_MISC, Vendor advisory
- developer.arm.comsupport/arm-security-updates/mali-gpu-kernel-driverx_refsource_MISC, Vendor advisory
- cisa.govknown-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2022-22706government-resource, US government resource
- pwn.watchpwn.watch: Arm Mali Graphics Processing Unit (GPU): 2 exploited vulnerabilities (CVE-2022-22706, CVE-2022-38181)pwn-watch
- developer.arm.comVendor advisory: Arm Mali Graphics Processing Unit (GPU)pwn-watch
- NVD (NIST)NVD: CVE-2022-22706pwn-watch
- NVD (NIST)NVD: CVE-2022-38181pwn-watch
- cisa.govCISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities Catalogpwn-watch
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<a href="https://intel.neosec.eu/en/cve/CVE-2022-22706"><img src="https://intel.neosec.eu/badge/cve/CVE-2022-22706.svg?lang=en" alt="CVE-2022-22706 – NEOSEC Intel" height="20"></a>