CVE-2022-49238
Published: 26 February 2025
Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ath11k: free peer for station when disconnect from AP for QCA6390/WCN6855 Commit b4a0f54156ac ("ath11k: move peer delete after vdev stop of station for QCA6390 and WCN6855") is to fix firmware crash by changing the WMI command sequence, but actually skip all the peer delete operation, then it lead commit 58595c9874c6 ("ath11k: Fixing dangling pointer issue upon peer delete failure") not take effect, and then happened a use-after-free warning from KASAN. because the peer->sta is not set to NULL and then used later. Change to only skip the WMI_PEER_DELETE_CMDID for QCA6390/WCN6855. log of user-after-free: [ 534.888665] BUG: KASAN: use-after-free in ath11k_dp_rx_update_peer_stats+0x912/0xc10 [ath11k] [ 534.888696] Read of size 8 at addr ffff8881396bb1b8 by task rtcwake/2860 [ 534.888705] CPU: 4 PID: 2860 Comm: rtcwake Kdump: loaded Tainted: G W 5.15.0-wt-ath+ #523 [ 534.888712] Hardware name: Intel(R) Client Systems NUC8i7HVK/NUC8i7HVB, BIOS HNKBLi70.86A.0067.2021.0528.1339 05/28/2021 [ 534.888716] Call Trace: [ 534.888720] <IRQ> [ 534.888726] dump_stack_lvl+0x57/0x7d [ 534.888736] print_address_description.constprop.0+0x1f/0x170 [ 534.888745] ? ath11k_dp_rx_update_peer_stats+0x912/0xc10 [ath11k] [ 534.888771] kasan_report.cold+0x83/0xdf [ 534.888783] ? ath11k_dp_rx_update_peer_stats+0x912/0xc10 [ath11k] [ 534.888810] ath11k_dp_rx_update_peer_stats+0x912/0xc10 [ath11k] [ 534.888840] ath11k_dp_rx_process_mon_status+0x529/0xa70 [ath11k] [ 534.888874] ? ath11k_dp_rx_mon_status_bufs_replenish+0x3f0/0x3f0 [ath11k] [ 534.888897] ? check_prev_add+0x20f0/0x20f0 [ 534.888922] ? __lock_acquire+0xb72/0x1870 [ 534.888937] ? find_held_lock+0x33/0x110 [ 534.888954] ath11k_dp_rx_process_mon_rings+0x297/0x520 [ath11k] [ 534.888981] ? rcu_read_unlock+0x40/0x40 [ 534.888990] ? ath11k_dp_rx_pdev_alloc+0xd90/0xd90 [ath11k] [ 534.889026] ath11k_dp_service_mon_ring+0x67/0xe0 [ath11k] [ 534.889053] ? ath11k_dp_rx_process_mon_rings+0x520/0x520 [ath11k] [ 534.889075] call_timer_fn+0x167/0x4a0 [ 534.889084] ? add_timer_on+0x3b0/0x3b0 [ 534.889103] ? lockdep_hardirqs_on_prepare.part.0+0x18c/0x370 [ 534.889117] __run_timers.part.0+0x539/0x8b0 [ 534.889123] ? ath11k_dp_rx_process_mon_rings+0x520/0x520 [ath11k] [ 534.889157] ? call_timer_fn+0x4a0/0x4a0 [ 534.889164] ? mark_lock_irq+0x1c30/0x1c30 [ 534.889173] ? clockevents_program_event+0xdd/0x280 [ 534.889189] ? mark_held_locks+0xa5/0xe0 [ 534.889203] run_timer_softirq+0x97/0x180 [ 534.889213] __do_softirq+0x276/0x86a [ 534.889230] __irq_exit_rcu+0x11c/0x180 [ 534.889238] irq_exit_rcu+0x5/0x20 [ 534.889244] sysvec_apic_timer_interrupt+0x8e/0xc0 [ 534.889251] </IRQ> [ 534.889254] <TASK> [ 534.889259] asm_sysvec_apic_timer_interrupt+0x12/0x20 [ 534.889265] RIP: 0010:_raw_spin_unlock_irqrestore+0x38/0x70 [ 534.889271] Code: 74 24 10 e8 ea c2 bf fd 48 89 ef e8 12 53 c0 fd 81 e3 00 02 00 00 75 25 9c 58 f6 c4 02 75 2d 48 85 db 74 01 fb bf 01 00 00 00 <e8> 13 a7 b5 fd 65 8b 05 cc d9 9c 5e 85 c0 74 0a 5b 5d c3 e8 a0 ee [ 534.889276] RSP: 0018:ffffc90002e5f880 EFLAGS: 00000206 [ 534.889284] RAX: 0000000000000006 RBX: 0000000000000200 RCX: ffffffff9f256f10 [ 534.889289] RDX: 0000000000000000 RSI: ffffffffa1c6e420 RDI: 0000000000000001 [ 534.889293] RBP: ffff8881095e6200 R08: 0000000000000001 R09: ffffffffa40d2b8f [ 534.889298] R10: fffffbfff481a571 R11: 0000000000000001 R12: ffff8881095e6e68 [ 534.889302] R13: ffffc90002e5f908 R14: 0000000000000246 R15: 0000000000000000 [ 534.889316] ? mark_lock+0xd0/0x14a0 [ 534.889332] klist_next+0x1d4/0x450 [ 534.889340] ? dpm_wait_for_subordinate+0x2d0/0x2d0 [ 534.889350] device_for_each_child+0xa8/0x140 [ 534.889360] ? device_remove_class_symlinks+0x1b0/0x1b0 [ 534.889370] ? __lock_release+0x4bd/0x9f0 [ 534.889378] ? dpm_suspend+0x26b/0x3f0 [ 534.889390] dpm_wait_for_subordinate+ ---truncated---
Security Summary
CVE-2022-49238 is a use-after-free vulnerability in the Linux kernel's ath11k Wi-Fi driver, specifically affecting QCA6390 and WCN6855 hardware platforms. The issue stems from a prior commit (b4a0f54156ac) that altered the WMI command sequence during station disconnection from an access point to prevent firmware crashes, but inadvertently skipped the full peer deletion process. This left the peer->sta pointer dangling, as a subsequent commit intended to handle peer delete failures (58595c9874c6) did not take effect. KASAN detected the use-after-free in ath11k_dp_rx_update_peer_stats during monitor ring processing, with a reported instance in kernel 5.15.0-wt-ath+.
A local attacker with low privileges can exploit this vulnerability by triggering a station disconnection from an AP while monitor mode processing continues, leading to access of the freed peer structure. The CVSS v3.1 base score of 7.8 (AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H) reflects high impacts on confidentiality, integrity, and availability, potentially enabling arbitrary code execution, data corruption, or system crashes on affected systems with compatible ath11k hardware.
Kernel patches address the issue by modifying the logic to skip only the WMI_PEER_DELETE_CMDID for QCA6390 and WCN6855 while ensuring proper peer freeing. Relevant stable commits include 212ad7cb7d7592669c067125949e0a8e31ce6a0b and 400705c50bbf184794c885d1efad7fe9ccf1471a, available via git.kernel.org. Security practitioners should update to kernels incorporating these fixes and verify ath11k driver versions on systems using QCA6390 or WCN6855 chipsets.
Details
- CWE(s)