CVE-2022-50187 ath11k: fix netdev open race
A race condition in the ath11k Wi-Fi driver causes a kernel crash when opening the network device before resources are fully allocated.
- 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-2022-50187?
CVE-2022-50187 is a medium-severity 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 netdev open race
Make sure to allocate resources needed before registering the device.
This specifically avoids having a racing open() trigger a BUG_ON() in mod_timer() when ath11k_mac_op_start() is called before the mon_reap_timer as been set up.
I did not see this issue with next-20220310, but I hit it on every probe with next-20220511. Perhaps some timing changed in between.
Here's the backtrace:
[ 51.346947] kernel BUG at kernel/time/timer.c:990! [ 51.346958] Internal error: Oops - BUG: 0 [#1] PREEMPT SMP ... [ 51.578225] Call trace: [ 51.583293] __mod_timer+0x298/0x390 [ 51.589518] mod_timer+0x14/0x20 [ 51.595368] ath11k_mac_op_start+0x41c/0x4a0 [ath11k] [ 51.603165] drv_start+0x38/0x60 [mac80211] [ 51.610110] ieee80211_do_open+0x29c/0x7d0 [mac80211] [ 51.617945] ieee80211_open+0x60/0xb0 [mac80211] [ 51.625311] __dev_open+0x100/0x1c0 [ 51.631420] __dev_change_flags+0x194/0x210 [ 51.638214] dev_change_flags+0x24/0x70 [ 51.644646] do_setlink+0x228/0xdb0 [ 51.650723] __rtnl_newlink+0x460/0x830 [ 51.657162] rtnl_newlink+0x4c/0x80 [ 51.663229] rtnetlink_rcv_msg+0x124/0x390 [ 51.669917] netlink_rcv_skb+0x58/0x130 [ 51.676314] rtnetlink_rcv+0x18/0x30 [ 51.682460] netlink_unicast+0x250/0x310 [ 51.688960] netlink_sendmsg+0x19c/0x3e0 [ 51.695458] ____sys_sendmsg+0x220/0x290 [ 51.701938] ___sys_sendmsg+0x7c/0xc0 [ 51.708148] __sys_sendmsg+0x68/0xd0 [ 51.714254] __arm64_sys_sendmsg+0x28/0x40 [ 51.720900] invoke_syscall+0x48/0x120
Tested-on: WCN6855 hw2.0 PCI WLAN.HSP.1.1-03125-QCAHSPSWPL_V1_V2_SILICONZ_LITE-3
Weakness: CWE-362
Which versions are affected by CVE-2022-50187?
It affects 1 product.
Products include Linux kernel.
How do I fix CVE-2022-50187?
Apply the vendor's patch.
Is CVE-2022-50187 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-50187 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Other vulnerabilities in Linux kernel
Sources
Also known as DEBIAN-CVE-2022-50187, GHSA-qx85-gr6x-6vqf, UBUNTU-CVE-2022-50187.