VulnerabilityPublished 7 Nov 2023Updated 16 Dec 2025

CVE-2023-4295: Arm Valhall GPU Kernel Driver · Integer Overflow or Wraparound

Affects Arm Valhall GPU Kernel DriverSource CVE Database V5

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 7.8 High.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 10:12 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

7.8High

How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.

EPSS: 0.2% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 16% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Attack Vector: Local
Attack Complexity: Low
Privileges Required: Low
User Interaction: None
Scope: Unchanged
Confidentiality: High
Integrity: High
Availability: High

Bold values are the worst case: easiest to exploit or largest impact.

Attack Vector: Local: The vulnerable component is not bound to the network stack and the attacker’s path is via read/write/execute capabilities. Either: the attacker exploits the vulnerability by accessing the target system locally (e.g., keyboard, console), or remotely (e.g., SSH); or the attacker relies on User Interaction by another person to perform actions required to exploit the vulnerability (e.g., tricking a legitimate user into opening a malicious document).
Attack Complexity: Low: Specialized access conditions or extenuating circumstances do not exist. An attacker can expect repeatable success against the vulnerable component.
Privileges Required: Low: The attacker is authorized with (i.e., requires) privileges that provide basic user capabilities that could normally affect only settings and files owned by a user. Alternatively, an attacker with Low privileges may have the ability to cause an impact only to non-sensitive resources.
User Interaction: None: The vulnerable system can be exploited without any interaction from any user.
Scope: Unchanged: An exploited vulnerability can only affect resources managed by the same security authority. In this case, the vulnerable component and the impacted component are either the same, or both are managed by the same security authority.
Confidentiality: High: There is total loss of confidentiality, resulting in all resources within the impacted component being divulged to the attacker. Alternatively, access to only some restricted information is obtained, but the disclosed information presents a direct, serious impact.
Integrity: High: There is a total loss of integrity, or a complete loss of protection. For example, the attacker is able to modify any/all files protected by the impacted component. Alternatively, only some files can be modified, but malicious modification would present a direct, serious consequence to the impacted component.
Availability: High: There is total loss of availability, resulting in the attacker being able to fully deny access to resources in the impacted component; this loss is either sustained (while the attacker continues to deliver the attack) or persistent (the condition persists even after the attack has completed). Alternatively, the attacker has the ability to deny some availability, but the loss of availability presents a direct, serious consequence to the impacted component (e.g., the attacker cannot disrupt existing connections, but can prevent new connections; the attacker can repeatedly exploit a vulnerability that, in each instance of a successful attack, leaks a only small amount of memory, but after repeated exploitation causes a service to become completely unavailable).

Definitions: FIRST CVSS v3.1 specification.

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 7 Nov 2023
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponised: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: no evidence on record.
Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by Mirage: no evidence on record.
No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors

A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 26 Oct 2026.

Disclosed: The CVE record is public on cve.org. Its publication is t = 0.
Detectable: A public nuclei template can find exposed instances, for defenders and attackers alike.
Weaponised: Public exploit code exists in Metasploit or Exploit-DB, or CISA SSVC or the CVSS exploit maturity reports a public proof of concept.
Exploited in the wild: CISA KEV lists it, CISA SSVC rates exploitation active, or a source reports attacks.
Observed by OffSeq Mirage: OffSeq Mirage honeypot sensors recorded attack traffic for this CVE, or found exposed hosts without attack traffic.

Moments are spaced evenly, not to scale; a dashed line marks a gap of six months or more. Deltas count from t = 0. Sources that give only a date (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, or a time of exactly 00:00Z) read “same day” rather than hours. Metasploit modules carry the flaw’s disclosure date, not their release date, and nuclei templates carry no date, so both appear above but not on the timeline.

What to do

AI-suggested

Monitor Arm Ltd announcements closely and apply official patches or driver updates for the Valhall GPU Kernel Driver as soon as they become available.
Restrict local access to systems running affected Valhall GPU drivers to trusted personnel only, minimizing the risk of local exploitation.
Implement strict user privilege management and limit the number of users with local access rights on affected devices.
Employ runtime security tools that can detect anomalous GPU memory operations or kernel driver misuse.
Use hardware-based security features such as ARM TrustZone or secure boot to reduce the attack surface.
Conduct regular audits of embedded and mobile devices in use within the organization to identify those running vulnerable versions.
For critical environments, consider network segmentation and isolation of devices with Valhall GPUs to limit lateral movement in case of compromise.
Educate system administrators and security teams about the risks of local privilege escalation vulnerabilities in GPU drivers and the importance of timely patching.

Description

CVE-2023-4295 is a high-severity local privilege vulnerability in the Arm Ltd Valhall GPU Kernel Driver (version r29p0). It involves an integer overflow or wraparound (CWE-190) leading to improper GPU memory operations that allow a non-privileged local user to access freed memory (use-after-free, CWE-416). This can result in full compromise of confidentiality, integrity, and availability of the system without requiring user interaction. No known exploits are currently reported in the wild. The vulnerability affects systems using the Valhall GPU architecture, commonly found in various embedded and mobile devices. European organizations using affected hardware or software stacks may face risks of local privilege escalation and data exposure. Mitigation requires applying vendor patches once available and restricting local access to trusted users. Countries with significant mobile and embedded device manufacturing or usage, such as Germany, France, and the UK, are more likely to be impacted.

Impact

For European organizations, the impact of CVE-2023-4295 can be substantial, especially in sectors relying on embedded systems, mobile devices, or edge computing platforms that incorporate Arm Valhall GPUs. Successful exploitation can lead to local privilege escalation, allowing attackers to bypass security controls, access sensitive data, or disrupt system operations. This is particularly critical for industries such as telecommunications, automotive, manufacturing, and critical infrastructure, where embedded Arm-based devices are widespread. Confidentiality breaches could expose proprietary or personal data, while integrity and availability compromises could disrupt operational technology systems or critical services. The local nature of the attack vector means that insider threats or compromised user accounts could leverage this vulnerability to escalate privileges. Additionally, the lack of user interaction requirement increases the risk in shared or multi-user environments common in enterprise settings.

Summary

CVE-2023-4295 is a vulnerability identified in the Arm Ltd Valhall GPU Kernel Driver, specifically version r29p0. The flaw is rooted in an integer overflow or wraparound condition (CWE-190) within the GPU kernel driver code that manages memory operations. This integer overflow can cause improper handling of GPU memory, leading to use-after-free conditions (CWE-416), where a local non-privileged user can access memory that has already been freed. Exploiting this vulnerability allows an attacker to read or write arbitrary memory locations within the GPU driver context, potentially escalating privileges or executing arbitrary code with kernel-level permissions. The vulnerability requires local access with low privileges but does not require user interaction, making it particularly dangerous in multi-user environments or where local access is possible through other means. The CVSS v3.1 score of 7.8 reflects the high impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability, combined with low attack complexity and low privileges required. Although no public exploits are known at this time, the vulnerability poses a significant risk to systems using the Valhall GPU architecture, which is prevalent in embedded systems, mobile devices, and some edge computing platforms. The lack of available patches at the time of disclosure necessitates immediate attention to access controls and monitoring to mitigate potential exploitation.

CWE-190Integer Overflow or Wraparound (opens in a new tab)
Base weaknessLikelihood of exploit: Medium
The product performs a calculation that can produce an integer overflow or wraparound when the logic assumes that the resulting value will always be larger than the original value. This occurs when an integer value is incremented to a value that is too large to store in the associated representation. When this occurs, the value may become a very small or negative number.
Requirements
Ensure that all protocols are strictly defined, such that all out-of-bounds behavior can be identified simply, and require strict conformance to the protocol.
Requirements · Language Selection
Use a language that does not allow this weakness to occur or provides constructs that make this weakness easier to avoid.
Architecture and Design · Libraries or Frameworks
Use a vetted library or framework that does not allow this weakness to occur or provides constructs that make this weakness easier to avoid.
OWASP Cheat Sheets
XML Security (opens in a new tab)
Mass Assignment (opens in a new tab)
OWASP ASVS 4.0.3
V5.4.3 (opens in a new tab)
V13.3.1 (opens in a new tab)
V5.1.4 (opens in a new tab)
Attack patterns
Forced Integer Overflow (opens in a new tab)
From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).
CWE-416Use After Free (opens in a new tab)
Variant weaknessLikelihood of exploit: HighCWE Top 25 (2025): #7
The product reuses or references memory after it has been freed. At some point afterward, the memory may be allocated again and saved in another pointer, while the original pointer references a location somewhere within the new allocation. Any operations using the original pointer are no longer valid because the memory "belongs" to the code that operates on the new pointer.
Architecture and Design · Language Selection
Choose a language that provides automatic memory management.
Implementation · Attack Surface Reduction
When freeing pointers, be sure to set them to NULL once they are freed. However, the utilization of multiple or complex data structures may lower the usefulness of this strategy.
OWASP Cheat Sheets
XML Security (opens in a new tab)
Mass Assignment (opens in a new tab)
OWASP ASVS 4.0.3
V13.3.1 (opens in a new tab)
V5.1.4 (opens in a new tab)
V5.1.3 (opens in a new tab)
From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).

References

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 23 Dec 2025, 18:33 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-190, CWE-416

Technical details

References

Community reviews

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