CVE-2022-23826: Graphics Interface Race Condition Flaw

CVE-2022-23826 Overview

CVE-2022-23826 is a Time-Of-Check to Time-Of-Use (TOCTOU) race condition affecting the graphics interface. An attacker with local, high-privilege access can repeatedly load registers to exploit the race window, potentially leading to a loss of integrity. The flaw is tracked under CWE-367: Time-of-check Time-of-use Race Condition and was published to the National Vulnerability Database in May 2026. AMD documented the issue in its product security bulletins.

Critical Impact
Successful exploitation requires local access and high privileges, but can undermine the integrity of register state at the graphics interface boundary.

Affected Products

AMD products as enumerated in AMD Security Bulletin SB-4017
AMD products as enumerated in AMD Security Bulletin SB-6027
Systems exposing the affected graphics interface to local user-space access

Discovery Timeline

2026-05-15 - CVE-2022-23826 published to NVD
2026-05-15 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2022-23826

Vulnerability Analysis

The vulnerability is a TOCTOU race condition in the graphics interface. The affected code validates register values or state at one point in time, then uses those values later without ensuring they remain unchanged. An attacker who can issue concurrent operations can modify the relevant registers between the check and the use, invalidating the prior validation.

Because the attack vector is local and requires high privileges, exploitation is constrained to scenarios where an attacker already holds significant access on the target system. The principal impact is a loss of integrity rather than direct code execution or information disclosure. The EPSS probability is 0.016%, indicating low expected exploitation activity in the wild.

Root Cause

The root cause is non-atomic handling of register state across the trust boundary of the graphics interface. Validation logic and consumption logic operate on separate reads of the same register data, leaving a window during which the data can be mutated. This pattern matches [CWE-367], where security decisions are made on state that is not held stable until use.

Attack Vector

An attacker with local access and elevated privileges issues repeated register load operations against the graphics interface. By timing these writes to overlap the validation-to-use window, the attacker substitutes attacker-controlled values for the values that were previously checked. Repeated attempts increase the probability of winning the race. Successful exploitation can corrupt integrity-sensitive state managed through the graphics interface. No remote, unauthenticated path to this condition has been described by the vendor.

No public proof-of-concept code has been published for this issue. Refer to the AMD security bulletins linked above for vendor-supplied technical details.

Detection Methods for CVE-2022-23826

Indicators of Compromise

High-frequency, repetitive register write sequences targeting the graphics interface from a single local process
Unexpected kernel or driver log entries referencing graphics register validation failures or inconsistent state
Privileged processes performing tight loops of ioctl or memory-mapped I/O operations against graphics device nodes

Detection Strategies

Baseline normal driver interaction patterns and alert on outlier processes generating sustained bursts of graphics register writes
Correlate elevated-privilege process activity with driver subsystem error counters to surface race-condition attempts
Apply [CWE-367] aware code review and fuzzing focused on check-then-use sequences in graphics driver call paths

Monitoring Recommendations

Enable verbose logging on graphics drivers in security-sensitive environments and forward logs to centralized analytics
Monitor for unauthorized privilege escalation events that would precede local exploitation
Track the integrity of administrator and SYSTEM-level accounts whose compromise satisfies the high-privilege prerequisite

How to Mitigate CVE-2022-23826

Immediate Actions Required

Apply the firmware and driver updates referenced in AMD Security Bulletin SB-4017 and AMD Security Bulletin SB-6027
Inventory systems exposing the affected graphics interface and prioritize patching for those running untrusted local workloads
Restrict local administrative access, since exploitation requires high privileges

Patch Information

AMD has published guidance in security bulletins SB-4017 and SB-6027. Administrators should consult those advisories for the authoritative list of affected products, mitigated versions, and recommended driver or firmware releases.

Workarounds

Limit interactive and remote administrative access to trusted personnel to reduce the population of users who satisfy the high-privilege precondition
Isolate workloads that require direct GPU access from general-purpose multi-tenant systems
Enforce application allow-listing to prevent untrusted binaries from interacting with graphics device interfaces

bash

# Configuration example
# Review and restrict access to graphics device nodes on Linux systems
ls -l /dev/dri/
stat -c '%a %U %G %n' /dev/dri/*
# Ensure only the intended group (e.g., 'video' or 'render') has access