wifi: rtw89: fix potential race condition between napi_init and napi_enable
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Local
- Privileges required
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- High
- Impact type
- —
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- None · None · High
- Fix status
- Partial Red Hat: 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: rtw89: fix potential race condition between napi_init and napi_enable A race condition can happen if netdev is registered, but NAPI isn't initialized yet, and meanwhile user space starts the netdev that will enable NAPI. Then, it hits BUG_ON(): kernel BUG at net/core/dev.c:6423! invalid opcode: 0000 [#1] PREEMPT SMP NOPTI CPU: 0 PID: 417 Comm: iwd Not tainted 6.2.7-slab-dirty #3 eb0f5a8a9d91 Hardware name: LENOVO 21DL/LNVNB161216, BIOS JPCN20WW(V1.06) 09/20/2022 RIP: 0010:napi_enable+0x3f/0x50 Code: 48 89 c2 48 83 e2 f6 f6 81 89 08 00 00 02 74 0d 48 83 ... RSP: 0018:ffffada1414f3548 EFLAGS: 00010246 RAX: 0000000000000000 RBX: ffffa01425802080 RCX: 0000000000000000 RDX: 00000000000002ff RSI: ffffada14e50c614 RDI: ffffa01425808dc0 RBP: 0000000000000000 R08: 0000000000000000 R09: 0000000000000000 R10: 0000000000000001 R11: 0000000000000100 R12: ffffa01425808f58 R13: 0000000000000000 R14: ffffa01423498940 R15: 0000000000000001 FS: 00007f5577c0a740(0000) GS:ffffa0169fc00000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000 CS: 0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033 CR2: 00007f5577a19972 CR3: 0000000125a7a000 CR4: 0000000000750ef0 PKRU: 55555554 Call Trace: <TASK> rtw89_pci_ops_start+0x1c/0x70 [rtw89_pci 6cbc75429515c181cbc386478d5cfb32ffc5a0f8] rtw89_core_start+0xbe/0x160 [rtw89_core fe07ecb874820b6d778370d4acb6ef8a37847f22] rtw89_ops_start+0x26/0x40 [rtw89_core fe07ecb874820b6d778370d4acb6ef8a37847f22] drv_start+0x42/0x100 [mac80211 c07fa22af8c3cf3f7d7ab3884ca990784d72e2d2] ieee80211_do_open+0x311/0x7d0 [mac80211 c07fa22af8c3cf3f7d7ab3884ca990784d72e2d2] ieee80211_open+0x6a/0x90 [mac80211 c07fa22af8c3cf3f7d7ab3884ca990784d72e2d2] __dev_open+0xe0/0x180 __dev_change_flags+0x1da/0x250 dev_change_flags+0x26/0x70 do_setlink+0x37c/0x12c0 ? ep_poll_callback+0x246/0x290 ? __nla_validate_parse+0x61/0xd00 ? __wake_up_common_lock+0x8f/0xd0 To fix this, follow Jonas' suggestion to switch the order of these functions and move register netdev to be the last step of PCI probe. Also, correct the error handling of rtw89_core_register_hw().
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 | 5.16 and later | 6.1.28, 6.2.15, 6.3.2, 6.4 | Patch available | CNA |
- Linux VendorLinux Affected 5.16 and later Fixed in 6.1.28, 6.2.15, 6.3.2, 6.4 Patch available CNA
CPE configurations NVD · 1
| CPE | Versions | Role | Vendor |
|---|---|---|---|
| cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | 5.16 to before 6.1.28; 6.2 to before 6.2.15; 6.3 to before 6.3.2 | Vulnerable | Linux |
- cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 5.16 to before 6.1.28; 6.2 to before 6.2.15; 6.3 to before 6.3.2 Vulnerable ·Linux
Remediation
- Fix · CNA Linux (Linux) Fixed in 6.1.28, 6.2.15, 6.3.2, 6.4
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 |
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-2023-53452
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-77qf-55vf-5v3v
- 2026-11-05 CISA SSVC decision points changed
References
More Linux Kernel vulnerabilities
- TI-2025-26358 tls: fix handling of zero-length records on the rx_list KEVCVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.8
- TI-2026-38352 netfilter: bridge: make ebt_snat ARP rewrite writable KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.8
- TI-2013-05264 The (1) get_user and (2) put_user API functions in the Linux kernel before 3.5.5 on the… KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.8
- TI-2022-00125 Integer overflow in kernel KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.4
- 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-2023-53452 · CVE Program
- CVE-2023-53452 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-77qf-55vf-5v3v · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2023-53452 · Red Hat security data · CC BY 4.0
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