CVE-2022-50709

Linux Kernel - Uninitialized Memory Read in ath9k_htc_rx_msg()

Title source: llm
STIX 2.1

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: wifi: ath9k: avoid uninit memory read in ath9k_htc_rx_msg() syzbot is reporting uninit value at ath9k_htc_rx_msg() [1], for ioctl(USB_RAW_IOCTL_EP_WRITE) can call ath9k_hif_usb_rx_stream() with pkt_len = 0 but ath9k_hif_usb_rx_stream() uses __dev_alloc_skb(pkt_len + 32, GFP_ATOMIC) based on an assumption that pkt_len is valid. As a result, ath9k_hif_usb_rx_stream() allocates skb with uninitialized memory and ath9k_htc_rx_msg() is reading from uninitialized memory. Since bytes accessed by ath9k_htc_rx_msg() is not known until ath9k_htc_rx_msg() is called, it would be difficult to check minimal valid pkt_len at "if (pkt_len > 2 * MAX_RX_BUF_SIZE) {" line in ath9k_hif_usb_rx_stream(). We have two choices. One is to workaround by adding __GFP_ZERO so that ath9k_htc_rx_msg() sees 0 if pkt_len is invalid. The other is to let ath9k_htc_rx_msg() validate pkt_len before accessing. This patch chose the latter. Note that I'm not sure threshold condition is correct, for I can't find details on possible packet length used by this protocol.

Scores

EPSS 0.0019
EPSS Percentile 8.7%

Details

Status published
Products (25)
linux/Kernel 2.6.35 - 4.14.296linux
linux/Kernel 4.15.0 - 4.19.262linux
linux/Kernel 4.20.0 - 5.4.220linux
linux/Kernel 5.11.0 - 5.15.75linux
linux/Kernel 5.16.0 - 5.19.17linux
linux/Kernel 5.20.0 - 6.0.3linux
linux/Kernel 5.5.0 - 5.10.150linux
Linux/Linux < 2.6.35
Linux/Linux 2.6.35
Linux/Linux 4.14.296 - 4.14.*
... and 15 more
Published Dec 24, 2025
Tracked Since Feb 18, 2026