CVE-2025-58411: GPU System Use After Free Vulnerability

CVE-2025-58411 Overview

CVE-2025-58411 is a Use After Free vulnerability affecting GPU drivers from Imagination Technologies. Software installed and run as a non-privileged user may conduct improper GPU system calls to cause mismanagement of resource reference counting, creating a potential use after free scenario.

The vulnerability stems from improper resource management and reference counting on an internal GPU resource, resulting in a condition where a write use after free could occur. This type of memory corruption vulnerability can potentially lead to arbitrary code execution, system crashes, or privilege escalation.

Critical Impact

Non-privileged attackers can exploit improper GPU system calls to trigger use after free conditions, potentially enabling arbitrary code execution or system compromise through memory corruption.

Affected Products

• Imagination Technologies GPU Drivers
• Systems utilizing Imagination Technologies PowerVR GPUs
• Devices with affected Imagination Technologies graphics drivers

Discovery Timeline

• 2026-01-13 - CVE-2025-58411 published to NVD
• 2026-01-13 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2025-58411

Vulnerability Analysis

This vulnerability is classified as CWE-416 (Use After Free), a critical memory corruption issue that occurs when a program continues to use a pointer after the memory it references has been freed. In the context of CVE-2025-58411, the issue manifests within GPU driver resource management where reference counting mechanisms fail to properly track resource lifecycle.

When GPU system calls are processed, the driver maintains internal reference counts for various resources. The improper management of these reference counts creates a race condition or logic error where a resource may be freed while still being referenced elsewhere in the driver code. Subsequent operations that attempt to write to this freed memory location can corrupt heap metadata or adjacent memory structures.

Root Cause

The root cause of CVE-2025-58411 lies in the improper resource management and reference counting implementation within the GPU driver's internal resource handling. When processing GPU system calls from non-privileged user space, the driver fails to correctly maintain reference counts for internal resources. This allows a scenario where a resource is prematurely deallocated while still being actively referenced, creating a dangling pointer that can be exploited through subsequent write operations.

Attack Vector

An attacker can exploit this vulnerability by running specially crafted software as a non-privileged user. The attack involves:

1. Making specific GPU system calls that manipulate resource reference counts
2. Creating a sequence of operations that causes premature resource deallocation
3. Triggering a subsequent write operation to the freed memory region
4. Potentially achieving arbitrary code execution or memory corruption

Since the vulnerability can be triggered from non-privileged user context through GPU system calls, it presents a local privilege escalation risk on affected systems. The attacker requires local access to the system to execute the malicious software that interacts with the GPU driver.

For detailed technical information about the vulnerability mechanism, refer to the Imagination Technologies GPU Vulnerabilities advisory.

Detection Methods for CVE-2025-58411

Indicators of Compromise

• Unexpected GPU driver crashes or system instability during graphics operations
• Anomalous GPU system call patterns from non-privileged processes
• Memory corruption indicators in kernel logs related to GPU driver operations
• Unusual process behavior following GPU-intensive operations

Detection Strategies

• Monitor for suspicious GPU system call sequences from non-privileged applications
• Implement kernel-level monitoring for GPU driver interactions and resource allocation patterns
• Deploy memory integrity monitoring solutions to detect heap corruption attempts
• Use behavioral analysis to identify processes making unusual GPU driver requests

Monitoring Recommendations

• Enable comprehensive logging for GPU driver operations and system calls
• Monitor kernel message logs for use after free or memory corruption warnings
• Implement real-time alerting for unusual GPU resource allocation and deallocation patterns
• Conduct regular vulnerability assessments on systems with Imagination Technologies GPUs

How to Mitigate CVE-2025-58411

Immediate Actions Required

• Review systems for Imagination Technologies GPU drivers and identify affected versions
• Apply vendor-provided security patches as they become available
• Restrict local access to systems with vulnerable GPU drivers where possible
• Monitor affected systems for signs of exploitation attempts

Patch Information

Imagination Technologies has published information regarding GPU driver vulnerabilities. System administrators should consult the Imagination Technologies GPU Vulnerabilities page for the latest patch information and affected driver versions.

Organizations should coordinate with their device manufacturers or OEM partners to obtain updated GPU drivers, as GPU driver updates are often distributed through device manufacturer channels rather than directly from Imagination Technologies.

Workarounds

• Limit local user access to systems with vulnerable GPU drivers
• Implement application whitelisting to prevent unauthorized software from executing GPU operations
• Consider disabling GPU acceleration for non-essential applications where feasible
• Deploy enhanced monitoring on affected systems until patches can be applied
• Use containerization or sandboxing to isolate applications that require GPU access

Organizations should prioritize patching over workarounds, as use after free vulnerabilities can be challenging to fully mitigate through configuration changes alone.