wifi: rtlwifi: Fix global-out-of-bounds bug in _rtl8812ae_phy_set_txpower_limit()
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Local
- Privileges required
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Impact type
- —
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- High · None · High
- Fix status
- Partial Red Hat: 2 fixed, 2 without a fix
Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · NVD. Fix status from CNA and Red Hat.
Summary
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: wifi: rtlwifi: Fix global-out-of-bounds bug in _rtl8812ae_phy_set_txpower_limit() There is a global-out-of-bounds reported by KASAN: BUG: KASAN: global-out-of-bounds in _rtl8812ae_eq_n_byte.part.0+0x3d/0x84 [rtl8821ae] Read of size 1 at addr ffffffffa0773c43 by task NetworkManager/411 CPU: 6 PID: 411 Comm: NetworkManager Tainted: G D 6.1.0-rc8+ #144 e15588508517267d37 Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (Q35 + ICH9, 2009), Call Trace: <TASK> ... kasan_report+0xbb/0x1c0 _rtl8812ae_eq_n_byte.part.0+0x3d/0x84 [rtl8821ae] rtl8821ae_phy_bb_config.cold+0x346/0x641 [rtl8821ae] rtl8821ae_hw_init+0x1f5e/0x79b0 [rtl8821ae] ... </TASK> The root cause of the problem is that the comparison order of "prate_section" in _rtl8812ae_phy_set_txpower_limit() is wrong. The _rtl8812ae_eq_n_byte() is used to compare the first n bytes of the two strings from tail to head, which causes the problem. In the _rtl8812ae_phy_set_txpower_limit(), it was originally intended to meet this requirement by carefully designing the comparison order. For example, "pregulation" and "pbandwidth" are compared in order of length from small to large, first is 3 and last is 4. However, the comparison order of "prate_section" dose not obey such order requirement, therefore when "prate_section" is "HT", when comparing from tail to head, it will lead to access out of bounds in _rtl8812ae_eq_n_byte(). As mentioned above, the _rtl8812ae_eq_n_byte() has the same function as strcmp(), so just strcmp() is enough. Fix it by removing _rtl8812ae_eq_n_byte() and use strcmp() barely. Although it can be fixed by adjusting the comparison order of "prate_section", this may cause the value of "rate_section" to not be from 0 to 5. In addition, commit "21e4b0726dc6" not only moved driver from staging to regular tree, but also added setting txpower limit function during the driver config phase, so the problem was introduced by this commit.
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
CISA ADP · SSVC 2.0.3
- Exploitation
- None
- Automatable
- No
- Technical impact
- Partial
The decision (Track, Attend, Act) also depends on your mission and well-being impact; see CISA's SSVC guide.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Linux | Linux | 3.18 and later | 4.19.276, 5.4.235, 5.10.173, 5.15.99, 6.1.16, 6.2.3, 6.3 | Patch available | CNA |
- Linux VendorLinux Affected 3.18 and later Fixed in 4.19.276, 5.4.235, 5.10.173, 5.15.99, 6.1.16, 6.2.3, 6.3 Patch available CNA
CPE configurations NVD · 1
| CPE | Versions | Role | Vendor |
|---|---|---|---|
| cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | 3.18 to before 4.19.276; 4.20 to before 5.4.235; 5.5 to before 5.10.173; 5.11 to before 5.15.99; 5.16 to before 6.1.16; 6.2 to before 6.2.3 | Vulnerable | Linux |
- cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 3.18 to before 4.19.276; 4.20 to before 5.4.235; 5.5 to before 5.10.173; 5.11 to before 5.15.99; 5.16 to before 6.1.16; 6.2 to before 6.2.3 Vulnerable ·Linux
Remediation
- Fix · CNA Linux (Linux) Fixed in 4.19.276, 5.4.235, 5.10.173, 5.15.99, 6.1.16, 6.2.3, 6.3
Red Hat 2 advisories
- RHSA-2023:7077 Released 2023-11-14 · Red Hat rating Importantkernel security, bug fix, and enhancement update
- Red Hat CodeReady Linux Builder (v. 8) kernel-tools-libs-devel-4.18.0-513.5.1.el8_9
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux BaseOS (v. 8) bpftool-4.18.0-513.5.1.el8_9, kernel-4.18.0-513.5.1.el8_9, kernel-abi-stablelists-4.18.0-513.5.1.el8_9 +19
- RHSA-2023:6583 Released 2023-11-07 · Red Hat rating Importantkernel security, bug fix, and enhancement update
- Red Hat CodeReady Linux Builder (v. 9) kernel-tools-libs-devel-5.14.0-362.8.1.el9_3, libperf-5.14.0-362.8.1.el9_3
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 9) kernel-64k-debug-devel-5.14.0-362.8.1.el9_3, kernel-64k-debug-devel-matched-5.14.0-362.8.1.el9_3, kernel-64k-devel-5.14.0-362.8.1.el9_3 +11
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux BaseOS (v. 9) bpftool-7.2.0-362.8.1.el9_3, kernel-5.14.0-362.8.1.el9_3, kernel-64k-5.14.0-362.8.1.el9_3 +29
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux Real Time (v. 9) kernel-rt-5.14.0-362.8.1.el9_3, kernel-rt-core-5.14.0-362.8.1.el9_3, kernel-rt-debug-5.14.0-362.8.1.el9_3 +9
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux Real Time for NFV (v. 9) kernel-rt-5.14.0-362.8.1.el9_3, kernel-rt-core-5.14.0-362.8.1.el9_3, kernel-rt-debug-5.14.0-362.8.1.el9_3 +11
Vendor assessments
Red Hat
Red Hat rating: Moderate. Red Hat's page for this CVE →
| Product | Status | Plan or fix |
|---|---|---|
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat CodeReady Linux Builder (v. 8) | Fixed | RHSA-2023:7077 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux BaseOS (v. 8) | Fixed | RHSA-2023:7077 |
Not affected: 3 products
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2022-50279
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-wwr7-fwgx-c7x5
- 2026-11-05 CISA SSVC decision points changed
References
Patch 7
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/fc3442247716fc426bbcf62ed65e086e48a6d44f
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/28ea268d95e57cdf6394a058f0d854206d478772
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/1e950b9a841bc96e98ee25680d5c7aa305120be1
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/0c962dcd6bf64b78eaffc09e497a2beb4e48bc32
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/f1fe40120de6ad4ffa8299fde035a5feba10d4fb
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/057b52461dc005ecd85a3e4998913b1492ec0f72
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/117dbeda22ec5ea0918254d03b540ef8b8a64d53
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- TI-2013-01864 The perf_swevent_init function in kernel/events/core.c in the Linux kernel before 3.8.9… KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.4
- TI-2021-05514 Heap Out-Of-Bounds Write in Netfilter IP6T_SO_SET_REPLACE KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.3
Sources
- CVE-2022-50279 · CVE Program
- CVE-2022-50279 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-wwr7-fwgx-c7x5 · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2022-50279 · Red Hat security data · CC BY 4.0
This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. Sources and licences