CVE-2021-0165 Denial of service in Intel(R) PROSet/Wireless Wi-Fi in multiple operating systems and Killer(TM) Wi-Fi in Windows 10 and 11

Medium 6.5 Published 9 Feb 2022 Updated 5 May 2025

Unauthenticated adjacent attackers can cause denial of service in Intel and Killer Wi-Fi firmware due to improper input validation.

Exploited in the wild: Not known
Login needed: Not needed
Attackable: Local or same network only
Victim action needed: Not needed
Fix: Available

What is CVE-2021-0165?

CVE-2021-0165 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Intel(R) PROSet/Wireless Wi-Fi in multiple operating systems and Killer(TM) Wi-Fi in Windows 10 and 11, published on 9 Feb 2022. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

Official description

Improper input validation in firmware for Intel(R) PROSet/Wireless Wi-Fi in multiple operating systems and Killer(TM) Wi-Fi in Windows 10 and 11 may allow an unauthenticated user to potentially enable denial of service via adjacent access.

Weakness: CWE-20

Which versions are affected by CVE-2021-0165?

It affects 22 products.

Products include Intel Amt Ac 8260 Firmware, Intel Amt Ac 8265 Firmware, Intel Amt Ac 9260 Firmware, Intel Amt Ac 9560 Firmware, Intel Amt Wi-Fi 6 Ax200 Firmware, Intel Amt Wi-Fi 6 Ax201 Firmware and 16 more.

How do I fix CVE-2021-0165?

Apply the vendor's patch.

Upgrade, then put limits on request size, rate and nesting depth so one client cannot exhaust the service. More about Denial of service.

Is CVE-2021-0165 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-0165 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Sources

Also known as GHSA-xq37-cpxh-7m6j, UBUNTU-CVE-2021-0165.