{"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"}}}}