{ "dataType": "CVE_RECORD", "dataVersion": "5.2", "cveMetadata": { "cveId": "CVE-2023-53822", "assignerOrgId": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67", "state": "PUBLISHED", "assignerShortName": "Linux", "dateReserved": "2025-12-09T01:27:17.824Z", "datePublished": "2025-12-09T01:29:35.206Z", "dateUpdated": "2026-08-05T09:16:13.643Z" }, "containers": { "cna": { "providerMetadata": { "orgId": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67", "shortName": "Linux", "dateUpdated": "2026-08-05T09:16:13.643Z" }, "descriptions": [ { "lang": "en", "value": "In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\nwifi: ath11k: Ignore frags from uninitialized peer in dp.\n\nWhen max virtual ap interfaces are configured in all the bands with\nACS and hostapd restart is done every 60s, a crash is observed at\nrandom times.\nIn this certain scenario, a fragmented packet is received for\nself peer, for which rx_tid and rx_frags are not initialized in\ndatapath. While handling this fragment, crash is observed as the\nrx_frag list is uninitialised and when we walk in\nath11k_dp_rx_h_sort_frags, skb null leads to exception.\n\nTo address this, before processing received fragments we check\ndp_setup_done flag is set to ensure that peer has completed its\ndp peer setup for fragment queue, else ignore processing the\nfragments.\n\nCall trace:\n ath11k_dp_process_rx_err+0x550/0x1084 [ath11k]\n ath11k_dp_service_srng+0x70/0x370 [ath11k]\n 0xffffffc009693a04\n __napi_poll+0x30/0xa4\n net_rx_action+0x118/0x270\n __do_softirq+0x10c/0x244\n irq_exit+0x64/0xb4\n __handle_domain_irq+0x88/0xac\n gic_handle_irq+0x74/0xbc\n el1_irq+0xf0/0x1c0\n arch_cpu_idle+0x10/0x18\n do_idle+0x104/0x248\n cpu_startup_entry+0x20/0x64\n rest_init+0xd0/0xdc\n arch_call_rest_init+0xc/0x14\n start_kernel+0x480/0x4b8\n Code: f9400281 f94066a2 91405021 b94a0023 (f9406401)\n\nTested-on: IPQ8074 hw2.0 AHB WLAN.HK.2.7.0.1-01744-QCAHKSWPL_SILICONZ-1" } ], "metrics": [ { "cvssV3_1": { "version": "3.1", "vectorString": "CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H", "baseScore": 8.8, "baseSeverity": "HIGH" }, "scenarios": [ { "lang": "en", "value": "AV:A - Triggered purely by receiving a crafted fragmented 802.11 MPDU on the ath11k radio (HW IRQ → NAPI → `ath11k_dp_process_rx_err`), requiring only that the attacker be within WiFi range of the AP. Per kernel guidance, WiFi frame injection is Adjacent.\nAC:L - The self peer, keyed by the AP's own MAC (the publicly broadcast BSSID), permanently has a zeroed `rx_tid[]` because `ath11k_dp_peer_setup()` is never called for it, so injecting one fragmented unicast frame with TA=BSSID deterministically walks a NULL-linked `rx_frags` list — no race and no memory-layout dependency. For the post-cleanup UAF window the attacker drives both sides by deauthenticating itself while streaming fragments.\nPR:N - Fragments are dispatched from the REO exception ring on HW peer-ID lookup alone; `ath11k_dp_rx_frag_h_mpdu()` never checks `peer->is_authorized`, and no association, 4-way handshake, or key material is required. A raw monitor-mode injector with no credentials reaches the vulnerable code.\nUI:N - The frame is processed automatically in softirq context by the driver's NAPI RX-error path with no action by any local user or administrator.\nS:U - The corruption and the crash are confined to the kernel's own memory and the WLAN driver, with no crossing into a different security authority such as a hypervisor or IOMMU domain.\nC:H - The same fix guards a use-after-free of `struct ath11k_peer` — an armed `frag_timer` and a dangling `tfm_mmic` surviving `kfree(peer)` — and a UAF lets the attacker groom the reclaimed slab to read back kernel memory. Per guidance, use-after-free is scored High.\nI:H - The post-cleanup UAF yields a `kfree()` of a pointer read from freed memory plus an indirect call through a freed `crypto_shash`, both classic write/control-flow-hijack primitives; the uninitialized-list path additionally performs `__skb_insert()` writes through NULL-linked pointers.\nA:H - An unauthenticated adjacent attacker deterministically causes a NULL-pointer dereference inside `ath11k_dp_rx_h_sort_frags()` in softirq/NAPI context, which is a fatal exception in interrupt context on the affected embedded AP platforms — full kernel panic and loss of the device." } ] } ], "affected": [ { "product": "Linux", "vendor": "Linux", "defaultStatus": "unaffected", "repo": "https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git", "programFiles": [ "drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath11k/dp.c", "drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath11k/dp_rx.c", "drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath11k/peer.h" ], "versions": [ { "version": "d5c65159f2895379e11ca13f62feabe93278985d", "lessThan": "e78526a06b53718bfc1dfff37864c7760e41f8ec", "status": "affected", "versionType": "git" }, { "version": "d5c65159f2895379e11ca13f62feabe93278985d", "lessThan": "41efc47f5bc53e63461579e206adc17c4452ab6e", "status": "affected", "versionType": "git" }, { "version": "d5c65159f2895379e11ca13f62feabe93278985d", "lessThan": "a06bfb3c9f69f303692cdae87bc0899d2ae8b2a6", "status": "affected", "versionType": "git" } ] }, { "product": "Linux", "vendor": "Linux", "defaultStatus": "affected", "repo": "https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git", "programFiles": [ "drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath11k/dp.c", "drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath11k/dp_rx.c", "drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath11k/peer.h" ], "versions": [ { "version": "5.6", "status": "affected" }, { "version": "0", "lessThan": "5.6", "status": "unaffected", "versionType": "semver" }, { "version": "6.1.30", "lessThanOrEqual": "6.1.*", "status": "unaffected", "versionType": "semver" }, { "version": "6.3.4", "lessThanOrEqual": "6.3.*", "status": "unaffected", "versionType": "semver" }, { "version": "6.4", "lessThanOrEqual": "*", "status": "unaffected", "versionType": "original_commit_for_fix" } ] } ], "cpeApplicability": [ { "nodes": [ { "operator": "OR", "negate": false, "cpeMatch": [ { "vulnerable": true, "criteria": "cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*", "versionStartIncluding": "5.6", "versionEndExcluding": "6.1.30" }, { "vulnerable": true, "criteria": "cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*", "versionStartIncluding": "5.6", "versionEndExcluding": "6.3.4" }, { "vulnerable": true, "criteria": "cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*", "versionStartIncluding": "5.6", "versionEndExcluding": "6.4" } ] } ] } ], "references": [ { "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/e78526a06b53718bfc1dfff37864c7760e41f8ec" }, { "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/41efc47f5bc53e63461579e206adc17c4452ab6e" }, { "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/a06bfb3c9f69f303692cdae87bc0899d2ae8b2a6" } ], "title": "wifi: ath11k: Ignore frags from uninitialized peer in dp.", "x_generator": { "engine": "bippy-1.2.0" } } } }