CVE-2026-9040: Arm Bifrost, Valhall, and 5th Gen GPU Kernel Driver race condition

CVE-2026-9040 · Severity: high · CVSS 7.7 · Published 2026-09-08

Arm's GPU kernel drivers for Bifrost, Valhall, and 5th Gen architectures contain a race condition that allows a local user to misuse GPU memory operations. An attacker can exploit this to crash the GPU subsystem (denial of service) or leak sensitive data from GPU memory, potentially exposing cryptographic keys, user data, or other confidential information stored in graphics memory.

Technologies: Arm 5th Gen GPU Architecture Kernel Driver, Arm Bifrost GPU Kernel Driver, Arm Valhall GPU Kernel Driver. Vendors: Arm.

Quick answers

Is CVE-2026-9040 exploited in the wild?
No. Junglewise Threat Intelligence has no report of CVE-2026-9040 being exploited in the wild.
How severe is CVE-2026-9040?
High severity, with a CVSS score of 7.7, published 8 September 2026.
Which products and versions are affected?
Arm 5th Gen GPU Architecture Kernel Driver r41p0 through r49p5, r50p0 through r54p3, r55p0; Arm Bifrost GPU Kernel Driver r12p0 through r49p5, r50p0 through r51p0, r54p1 through r54p2; Arm Valhall GPU Kernel Driver r19p0 through r49p5, r50p0 through r54p3, r55p0.
Is there a fix for CVE-2026-9040?
No fixed version is recorded yet. Check the vendor's advisory in the references below. If you run it, Junglewise drafts a mitigation that fits your setup and applies it once you approve, with senior security engineers behind it.
How is CVE-2026-9040 attacked?
It is attacked with local access, in device firmware.
Am I affected by CVE-2026-9040?
Check whether you run Arm 5th Gen GPU Architecture Kernel Driver, Arm Bifrost GPU Kernel Driver or Arm Valhall GPU Kernel Driver at an affected version. Junglewise does that check for you around the clock: connect your code, cloud and domains, and it matches new vulnerabilities like this one against what you actually run and tells you when one reaches you.

Technical details

A race condition exists in the GPU memory processing logic of three Arm kernel drivers: Bifrost, Valhall, and 5th Gen GPU Architecture drivers. The vulnerability allows a local non-privileged process to perform improper GPU memory operations without proper synchronization or access controls. An attacker with local code execution can trigger the race condition to cause denial of service or read sensitive information from GPU memory. The vulnerability affects multiple versions: Bifrost r12p0–r49p5, r50p0–r51p0, r54p1–r54p2; Valhall r19p0–r49p5, r50p0–r54p3, r55p0; and 5th Gen r41p0–r49p5, r50p0–r54p3, r55p0. Patches are available in later versions of each driver.

Affected products

  • Arm Bifrost GPU Kernel Driver r12p0 through r49p5, r50p0 through r51p0, r54p1 through r54p2
  • Arm Valhall GPU Kernel Driver r19p0 through r49p5, r50p0 through r54p3, r55p0
  • Arm 5th Gen GPU Architecture Kernel Driver r41p0 through r49p5, r50p0 through r54p3, r55p0

Timeline

  • 2026-09-08: disclosed: Vulnerability published on NVD

References

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