Cloud Vulnerability DB
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Vulnerability DatabaseCVE-2022-49523
CVE-2022-49523:
Linux Kernel vulnerability analysis and mitigation
Overview
CVE-2022-49523 is a vulnerability in the Linux kernel's ath11k wireless driver that can lead to a NULL pointer dereference. The issue occurs when removing the ath11k module (using rmmod) while spectral scan is enabled, causing the system to crash (Kernel Git).
Technical details
The vulnerability manifests when the spectral scan feature is enabled and the ath11k module is being removed. The issue stems from improper cleanup sequence in the spectral_deinit API, where the spectral dbring is cleaned before disabling the spectral scan in firmware. This leads to a NULL pointer dereference at virtual address 0x00000008, causing a kernel crash (Kernel Git).
Impact
When exploited, this vulnerability results in a kernel crash (NULL pointer dereference), leading to a denial of service condition. The crash affects systems running the Linux kernel with the ath11k wireless driver module (Kernel Git).
Mitigation and workarounds
The fix involves sending a spectral scan disable WMI command to firmware before cleaning the spectral dbring in the spectral_deinit API. This ensures proper cleanup sequence and prevents the NULL pointer dereference. Users should update to a patched kernel version that includes this fix (Kernel Git).
Additional resources
Source: This report was generated using AI
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