# CVE-2022-49238: ath11k: free peer for station when disconnect from AP for QCA6390/WCN6855
> A use-after-free vulnerability in the ath11k Wi-Fi driver allows attackers to cause a system crash or potentially execute arbitrary code.
- **Severity:** High 8.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 26 Feb 2025
- **Updated:** 5 Aug 2026
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2022-49238, GHSA-xqq8-xc8f-f7c4, UBUNTU-CVE-2022-49238
## What is CVE-2022-49238?
CVE-2022-49238 is a high-severity use after free vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 26 Feb 2025. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
### Official description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
ath11k: free peer for station when disconnect from AP for QCA6390/WCN6855
Commit b4a0f54156ac ("ath11k: move peer delete after vdev stop of station
for QCA6390 and WCN6855") is to fix firmware crash by changing the WMI
command sequence, but actually skip all the peer delete operation, then
it lead commit 58595c9874c6 ("ath11k: Fixing dangling pointer issue upon
peer delete failure") not take effect, and then happened a use-after-free
warning from KASAN. because the peer->sta is not set to NULL and then used
later.
Change to only skip the WMI_PEER_DELETE_CMDID for QCA6390/WCN6855.
log of user-after-free:
[ 534.888665] BUG: KASAN: use-after-free in ath11k_dp_rx_update_peer_stats+0x912/0xc10 [ath11k]
[ 534.888696] Read of size 8 at addr ffff8881396bb1b8 by task rtcwake/2860
[ 534.888705] CPU: 4 PID: 2860 Comm: rtcwake Kdump: loaded Tainted: G W 5.15.0-wt-ath+ #523
[ 534.888712] Hardware name: Intel(R) Client Systems NUC8i7HVK/NUC8i7HVB, BIOS HNKBLi70.86A.0067.2021.0528.1339 05/28/2021
[ 534.888716] Call Trace:
[ 534.888720]
[ 534.888726] dump_stack_lvl+0x57/0x7d
[ 534.888736] print_address_description.constprop.0+0x1f/0x170
[ 534.888745] ? ath11k_dp_rx_update_peer_stats+0x912/0xc10 [ath11k]
[ 534.888771] kasan_report.cold+0x83/0xdf
[ 534.888783] ? ath11k_dp_rx_update_peer_stats+0x912/0xc10 [ath11k]
[ 534.888810] ath11k_dp_rx_update_peer_stats+0x912/0xc10 [ath11k]
[ 534.888840] ath11k_dp_rx_process_mon_status+0x529/0xa70 [ath11k]
[ 534.888874] ? ath11k_dp_rx_mon_status_bufs_replenish+0x3f0/0x3f0 [ath11k]
[ 534.888897] ? check_prev_add+0x20f0/0x20f0
[ 534.888922] ? __lock_acquire+0xb72/0x1870
[ 534.888937] ? find_held_lock+0x33/0x110
[ 534.888954] ath11k_dp_rx_process_mon_rings+0x297/0x520 [ath11k]
[ 534.888981] ? rcu_read_unlock+0x40/0x40
[ 534.888990] ? ath11k_dp_rx_pdev_alloc+0xd90/0xd90 [ath11k]
[ 534.889026] ath11k_dp_service_mon_ring+0x67/0xe0 [ath11k]
[ 534.889053] ? ath11k_dp_rx_process_mon_rings+0x520/0x520 [ath11k]
[ 534.889075] call_timer_fn+0x167/0x4a0
[ 534.889084] ? add_timer_on+0x3b0/0x3b0
[ 534.889103] ? lockdep_hardirqs_on_prepare.part.0+0x18c/0x370
[ 534.889117] __run_timers.part.0+0x539/0x8b0
[ 534.889123] ? ath11k_dp_rx_process_mon_rings+0x520/0x520 [ath11k]
[ 534.889157] ? call_timer_fn+0x4a0/0x4a0
[ 534.889164] ? mark_lock_irq+0x1c30/0x1c30
[ 534.889173] ? clockevents_program_event+0xdd/0x280
[ 534.889189] ? mark_held_locks+0xa5/0xe0
[ 534.889203] run_timer_softirq+0x97/0x180
[ 534.889213] __do_softirq+0x276/0x86a
[ 534.889230] __irq_exit_rcu+0x11c/0x180
[ 534.889238] irq_exit_rcu+0x5/0x20
[ 534.889244] sysvec_apic_timer_interrupt+0x8e/0xc0
[ 534.889251]
[ 534.889254]
[ 534.889259] asm_sysvec_apic_timer_interrupt+0x12/0x20
[ 534.889265] RIP: 0010:_raw_spin_unlock_irqrestore+0x38/0x70
[ 534.889271] Code: 74 24 10 e8 ea c2 bf fd 48 89 ef e8 12 53 c0 fd 81 e3 00 02 00 00 75 25 9c 58 f6 c4 02 75 2d 48 85 db 74 01 fb bf 01 00 00 00 13 a7 b5 fd 65 8b 05 cc d9 9c 5e 85 c0 74 0a 5b 5d c3 e8 a0 ee
[ 534.889276] RSP: 0018:ffffc90002e5f880 EFLAGS: 00000206
[ 534.889284] RAX: 0000000000000006 RBX: 0000000000000200 RCX: ffffffff9f256f10
[ 534.889289] RDX: 0000000000000000 RSI: ffffffffa1c6e420 RDI: 0000000000000001
[ 534.889293] RBP: ffff8881095e6200 R08: 0000000000000001 R09: ffffffffa40d2b8f
[ 534.889298] R10: fffffbfff481a571 R11: 0000000000000001 R12: ffff8881095e6e68
[ 534.889302] R13: ffffc90002e5f908 R14: 0000000000000246 R15: 0000000000000000
[ 534.889316] ? mark_lock+0xd0/0x14a0
[ 534.889332] klist_next+0x1d4/0x450
[ 534.889340] ? dpm_wait_for_subordinate+0x2d0/0x2d0
[ 534.889350] device_for_each_child+0xa8/0x140
[ 534.889360] ? device_remove_class_symlinks+0x1b0/0x1b0
[ 534.889370] ? __lock_release+0x4bd/0x9f0
[ 534.889378] ? dpm_suspend+0x26b/0x3f0
[ 534.889390] dpm_wait_for_subordinate+
---truncated---
Weakness: CWE-416 (Use After Free)
## Which versions are affected by CVE-2022-49238?
It affects 1 product.
Products: Linux kernel.
## How do I fix CVE-2022-49238?
Apply the vendor's patch.
## Is CVE-2022-49238 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-49238 in the wild and no public exploit code.
## Other vulnerabilities in Linux kernel
- [CVE-2026-53266](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-53266/): Linux Kernel Out-of-Bounds Write (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2013-6282](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-6282/): Linux Kernel Improper Input Validation (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2022-0185](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-0185/): Linux Kernel Heap-Based Buffer Overflow (high 8.4, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2013-2094](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-2094/): Linux Kernel Privilege Escalation (high 8.4, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2026-53362](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-53362/): Linux Kernel Unspecified (high 7.8, exploited in the wild)
## Fix prompt for AI coding agents
```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2022-49238 and fix it if it is affected.
What it is: CVE-2022-49238 is a high-severity use after free vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 26 Feb 2025. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-49238 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Affected product: Linux kernel. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.
Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.
Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-49238/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-49238/index.md)
```
## Sources
- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2022-49238
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-49238
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2022-49238
---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-49238/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.