CVE-2024-4610

CVE-2024-4610 is a use-after-free (CWE-416) in Arm's Bifrost and Valhall Mali GPU kernel drivers, affecting driver builds from r34p0 through r40p0. A local, non-privileged user can trigger improper GPU memory processing operations that cause the driver to access already-freed memory. A successful exploit can yield high-impact outcomes — confidentiality, integrity and availability are all rated high, implying kernel-level information disclosure or code execution in the context of the GPU driver — and it could also be chained with other bugs in remote exploitation chains. Any device shipping a Mali Bifrost/Valhall driver in the affected range is exposed, including Android smartphones and other SoC-based products from vendors that integrate Mali GPUs. The flaw is being actively exploited in the wild: Arm warned of in-the-wild zero-day use, CISA added it to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on 2024-06-12, and related reporting ties it to spyware-grade exploitation (Intellexa/Predator and a Google warning about a Pixel firmware zero-day).

What to do: Update to a fixed Arm Mali Bifrost/Valhall GPU kernel driver release newer than r40p0, which for most users means applying the latest Android/SoC/device vendor firmware updates (e.g., Google's updated Pixel firmware). Organizations managing fleets should inventory devices built on affected Mali driver versions (Pixel, MediaTek Dimensity, Exynos handsets; Rockchip/Amlogic boards) and prioritize them for patching given confirmed in-the-wild exploitation. Federal agencies must apply vendor mitigations per CISA KEV requirements within the mandated deadline, and defenders should treat local or chained remote exploitation paths as realistic, consistent with the spyware-usage reporting.