CVE-2026-21733
Imaginationtech Ddk ≤ 25.3
Raw vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:LSummary
CVE-2026-21733 is a high-severity Improper Handling of Insufficient Permissions or Privileges (CWE-280) vulnerability in Imaginationtech Ddk. Its CVSS base score is 7.3 (High).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploit Public-Facing Application (T1190); ranked at the 0.9th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to SA-11 (Developer Testing and Evaluation) and SI-10 (Information Input Validation) — see the control section below for these in your framework.
Deeper analysis AI-assisted summary
Synthesised by an AI model from the NVD description and linked references — a reading aid, not an authoritative source.
CVE-2026-21733 is a vulnerability affecting the Imagination Technologies Graphics DDK on Linux and Android platforms. Published on 2026-04-17T17:16:35.220, it has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 7.3 (AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:L), indicating high severity with local attack vector, low attack complexity, and low privileges required.
A local attacker with low privileges can exploit this vulnerability without user interaction. Successful exploitation enables high-impact confidentiality and integrity violations, alongside low availability impact, potentially allowing unauthorized data access or modification within the affected graphics driver context.
Mitigation details are available in the vendor advisory at https://www.imaginationtech.com/gpu-driver-vulnerabilities/.
OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2026-23446
Vulnerability Data
Software installed and run as a non-privileged user may conduct improper GPU system calls to gain write permission to read-only wrapped user-mode memory and files. This is caused by improper handling of GPU memory reservation protections.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Control response
—
—
- 12 hardening rules · 5 OS baselines
V6.2.2V8.3.3
Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI
Developer testing and evaluation can discover missing input validation through analysis or test cases.
SI-10 directly requires validity checks on information inputs, structurally preventing improper or missing validation.
Ensuring access decisions are applied to every request structurally prevents the product from taking unexpected paths when privileges are lacking.
A reference monitor that is always invoked guarantees privilege checks occur, eliminating the root condition for improper insufficient-privilege handling.
Access enforcement directly stops code from proceeding on insufficient privileges by applying authorization checks before resource access.
Requiring documented development standards and tools can embed input-validation practices into the engineering process.
Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI
Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.
Defining, enforcing and reviewing access permissions with least privilege directly prevents code paths that mishandle insufficient privileges.
Secure SDLC practices directly require and enforce input validation during development.
Runtime monitoring of software and data surfaces adverse events triggered by unhandled permission failures.
Generating logs of permission-related events enables detection and analysis of improper handling.
Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI
Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.
Security testing can detect missing or incorrect privilege handling.
Defines access-control policy that should prevent insufficient-privilege situations.
Specifies how access rights are granted, reviewed and revoked, directly addressing privilege handling.
Requires explicit management of privileged access rights, reducing the chance of missing privilege checks.
Secure-SDLC practices include privilege checks during design and coding.
Mandating input controls that include integrity checks and input validation ensures that untrusted data is examined before use, blocking the root cause of many injection and malformed-data weaknesses.
Hardening callouts derived
Configuration rules from DISA STIG baselines that bear on weaknesses of the type cited by this CVE. Each rule is shown with the relationship its mapping actually records, against the CWE it was authored against. Derived via CVE→CWE over `controls_xwalks` (authoritative rows only; rows rated `none` are excluded).
Oracle Linux 8 (2 rules)
- V-248548 OL 8 must use a Linux Security Module configured to enforce limits on system services. prevents CWE-280
- V-248596 OL 8 must enable the SELinux targeted policy. prevents CWE-280
Oracle Linux 9 (1 rule)
- V-271452 OL 9 must use a Linux Security Module configured to enforce limits on system services. prevents CWE-280
RHEL 8 (1 rule)
- V-230265 RHEL 8 must prevent the installation of software, patches, service packs, device drivers, or operating system components of local packages without verification they have been digitally signed using a certificate that is issued by a Certificate Authority (CA) that is recognized and approved by the organization. prevents CWE-20
RHEL 9 (2 rules)
- V-258078 RHEL 9 must use a Linux Security Module configured to enforce limits on system services. prevents CWE-280
- V-272496 RHEL 9 must elevate the SELinux context when an administrator calls the sudo command. prevents CWE-280