CVE-2022-50179
kernel: ath9k: fix use-after-free in ath9k_hif_usb_rx_cb
Severity
ModerateRed Hat Product Security
CVSS 3.1
Review impact separately from score.
Published · June 18, 2025
Updated · June 30, 2026
Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
ath9k: fix use-after-free in ath9k_hif_usb_rx_cb
Syzbot reported use-after-free Read in ath9k_hif_usb_rx_cb() [0]. The problem was in incorrect htc_handle->drv_priv initialization.
Probable call trace which can trigger use-after-free:
ath9k_htc_probe_device() /* htc_handle->drv_priv = priv; */ ath9k_htc_wait_for_target() <--- Failed ieee80211_free_hw() <--- priv pointer is freed
<IRQ> ... ath9k_hif_usb_rx_cb() ath9k_hif_usb_rx_stream() RX_STAT_INC() <--- htc_handle->drv_priv accessIn order to not add fancy protection for drv_priv we can move htc_handle->drv_priv initialization at the end of the ath9k_htc_probe_device() and add helper macro to make all STAT macros NULL safe, since syzbot has reported related NULL deref in that macros [1]
CVSS score applicability
The CVSS score(s) listed for this vulnerability do not reflect the associated product's status, and are included for informational purposes to better understand the severity of this vulnerability.
Mitigation
No mitigation is specified in collected source.
CVSS / CWE
CVSS 3.1 · 5.2CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:H
CWE-763 · Release of Invalid Pointer or Reference