CVE-2024-27434

CVE-2024-27434 is a flaw in the Linux kernel’s iwlwifi driver related to handling Management Frame Protection (MFP) in certain Wi-Fi configurations. When connecting to an access point using TKIP as the group cipher, the driver incorrectly applies the MFP flag to the Group Temporal Key (GTK), which is not supported in this context. This can result in firmware crashes and instability. The issue has been fixed by ensuring the driver does not set the MFP flag for incompatible group ciphers like TKIP. Updating to a patched kernel version is recommended to resolve this vulnerability.

This vulnerability is rated Moderate rather than Important because exploitation requires physical Intel wireless hardware and is restricted to causing a denial of service under an uncommon network setup. Standard Red Hat Enterprise Linux server and cloud deployments do not use Wi-Fi devices or the iwlwifi driver, leaving them unaffected under default configurations. Exploitation requires associating with an access point configured with both Management Frame Protection and deprecated TKIP group ciphers, resulting only in adapter firmware disruption without compromising host integrity or confidentiality.

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.