CVE-2025-0819: Use After Free Vulnerability in Arm Ltd GPU Kernel Drivers

Overview

In the dynamic landscape of cybersecurity, a critical vulnerability, CVE-2025-0819, has been discovered in various GPU kernel drivers developed by Arm Ltd, a leading technology provider of silicon IP and custom SoCs. This vulnerability exposes systems to potential compromise and data leakage, making it a significant concern for organizations that rely on these GPU drivers for their operations. The affected drivers include Bifrost GPU Kernel Driver, Valhall GPU Kernel Driver, and Arm 5th Gen GPU Architecture Kernel Driver.
The vulnerability essentially allows a local non-privileged user process to perform valid GPU memory processing operations on already freed memory. Consequently, it opens up the potential for unauthorized access to sensitive data and compromises system integrity.

Vulnerability Summary

CVE ID: CVE-2025-0819
Severity: High (7.8 CVSS Score)
Attack Vector: Local
Privileges Required: None (Non-Privileged User Process)
User Interaction: None
Impact: Potential system compromise and data leakage

Affected Products

Product | Affected Versions

Bifrost GPU Kernel Driver | r44p0 through r49p3, r50p0 through r51p0
Valhall GPU Kernel Driver | r44p0 through r49p3, r50p0 through r54p0
Arm 5th Gen GPU Architecture Kernel Driver | r44p0 through r49p3, r50p0 through r54p0

How the Exploit Works

The CVE-2025-0819 vulnerability is a ‘Use After Free’ type of vulnerability. In this vulnerability, an application reuses or references memory after it’s been freed or deallocated. In this case, a local non-privileged user process can perform valid GPU memory processing operations on already freed memory. This operation could potentially allow an attacker to execute arbitrary code or even gain unauthorized access to sensitive data.

Conceptual Example Code

While the specific exploit code would depend on the exact environment and configuration, a conceptual example might look something like this, where a malicious process accesses GPU memory after it has been freed:

void *freedMemory = malloc(100);
free(freedMemory);
// Malicious process begins
void *maliciousProcess = freedMemory; // Accessing the freed memory
*maliciousProcess = "Malicious data"; // Writing malicious data into the freed memory
// Malicious process ends

This conceptual example demonstrates how a malicious process could exploit this vulnerability by accessing and modifying already freed memory. In the context of the GPU drivers, this could allow unauthorized access to sensitive data or potential system compromise.