CVE-2022-50186 ath11k: fix missing skb drop on htc_tx_completion error
A memory leak in the ath11k Wi-Fi driver allows attackers to cause a denial of service by triggering transmission errors that fail to free network packets.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- Any signed-in user
- Attackable
- Local or same network only
- Victim action needed
- Not needed
- Fix
- Available
What is CVE-2022-50186?
CVE-2022-50186 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 18 Jun 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: fix missing skb drop on htc_tx_completion error
On htc_tx_completion error the skb is not dropped. This is wrong since the completion_handler logic expect the skb to be consumed anyway even when an error is triggered. Not freeing the skb on error is a memory leak since the skb won't be freed anywere else. Correctly free the packet on eid >= ATH11K_HTC_EP_COUNT before returning.
Tested-on: IPQ8074 hw2.0 AHB WLAN.HK.2.5.0.1-01208-QCAHKSWPL_SILICONZ-1
Weakness: CWE-401
Which versions are affected by CVE-2022-50186?
It affects 1 product.
Products include Linux kernel.
How do I fix CVE-2022-50186?
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-2022-50186 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-50186 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Other vulnerabilities in Linux kernel
Sources
Also known as DEBIAN-CVE-2022-50186, GHSA-pq3f-wh3m-p798, UBUNTU-CVE-2022-50186.