# CVE-2023-53086: wifi: mt76: connac: do not check WED status for non-mmio devices

> A missing check for non-mmio devices in the mt76 WiFi driver causes a kernel crash when WED status is incorrectly accessed.

- **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:** 2 May 2025
- **Updated:** 15 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2023-53086, DEBIAN-CVE-2023-53086, GHSA-j2jx-2q7v-qq3w, UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53086

## What is CVE-2023-53086?

CVE-2023-53086 is a high-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 2 May 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:

wifi: mt76: connac: do not check WED status for non-mmio devices

WED is supported just for mmio devices, so do not check it for usb or
sdio devices. This patch fixes the crash reported below:

[   21.946627] wlp0s3u1i3: authenticate with c4:41:1e:f5:2b:1d
[   22.525298] wlp0s3u1i3: send auth to c4:41:1e:f5:2b:1d (try 1/3)
[   22.548274] wlp0s3u1i3: authenticate with c4:41:1e:f5:2b:1d
[   22.557694] wlp0s3u1i3: send auth to c4:41:1e:f5:2b:1d (try 1/3)
[   22.565885] wlp0s3u1i3: authenticated
[   22.569502] wlp0s3u1i3: associate with c4:41:1e:f5:2b:1d (try 1/3)
[   22.578966] wlp0s3u1i3: RX AssocResp from c4:41:1e:f5:2b:1d (capab=0x11 status=30 aid=3)
[   22.579113] wlp0s3u1i3: c4:41:1e:f5:2b:1d rejected association temporarily; comeback duration 1000 TU (1024 ms)
[   23.649518] wlp0s3u1i3: associate with c4:41:1e:f5:2b:1d (try 2/3)
[   23.752528] wlp0s3u1i3: RX AssocResp from c4:41:1e:f5:2b:1d (capab=0x11 status=0 aid=3)
[   23.797450] wlp0s3u1i3: associated
[   24.959527] kernel tried to execute NX-protected page - exploit attempt? (uid: 0)
[   24.959640] BUG: unable to handle page fault for address: ffff88800c223200
[   24.959706] #PF: supervisor instruction fetch in kernel mode
[   24.959788] #PF: error_code(0x0011) - permissions violation
[   24.959846] PGD 2c01067 P4D 2c01067 PUD 2c02067 PMD c2a8063 PTE 800000000c223163
[   24.959957] Oops: 0011 [#1] PREEMPT SMP
[   24.960009] CPU: 0 PID: 391 Comm: wpa_supplicant Not tainted 6.2.0-kvm #18
[   24.960089] Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (Q35 + ICH9, 2009), BIOS 1.16.1-2.fc37 04/01/2014
[   24.960191] RIP: 0010:0xffff88800c223200
[   24.960446] RSP: 0018:ffffc90000ff7698 EFLAGS: 00010282
[   24.960513] RAX: ffff888028397010 RBX: ffff88800c26e630 RCX: 0000000000000058
[   24.960598] RDX: ffff88800c26f844 RSI: 0000000000000006 RDI: ffff888028397010
[   24.960682] RBP: ffff88800ea72f00 R08: 18b873fbab2b964c R09: be06b38235f3c63c
[   24.960766] R10: 18b873fbab2b964c R11: be06b38235f3c63c R12: 0000000000000001
[   24.960853] R13: ffff88800c26f84c R14: ffff8880063f0ff8 R15: ffff88800c26e644
[   24.960950] FS:  00007effcea327c0(0000) GS:ffff88807dc00000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000
[   24.961036] CS:  0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033
[   24.961106] CR2: ffff88800c223200 CR3: 000000000eaa2000 CR4: 00000000000006b0
[   24.961190] Call Trace:
[   24.961219]  <TASK>
[   24.961245]  ? mt76_connac_mcu_add_key+0x2cf/0x310
[   24.961313]  ? mt7921_set_key+0x150/0x200
[   24.961365]  ? drv_set_key+0xa9/0x1b0
[   24.961418]  ? ieee80211_key_enable_hw_accel+0xd9/0x240
[   24.961485]  ? ieee80211_key_replace+0x3f3/0x730
[   24.961541]  ? crypto_shash_setkey+0x89/0xd0
[   24.961597]  ? ieee80211_key_link+0x2d7/0x3a0
[   24.961664]  ? crypto_aead_setauthsize+0x31/0x50
[   24.961730]  ? sta_info_hash_lookup+0xa6/0xf0
[   24.961785]  ? ieee80211_add_key+0x1fc/0x250
[   24.961842]  ? rdev_add_key+0x41/0x140
[   24.961882]  ? nl80211_parse_key+0x6c/0x2f0
[   24.961940]  ? nl80211_new_key+0x24a/0x290
[   24.961984]  ? genl_rcv_msg+0x36c/0x3a0
[   24.962036]  ? rdev_mod_link_station+0xe0/0xe0
[   24.962102]  ? nl80211_set_key+0x410/0x410
[   24.962143]  ? nl80211_pre_doit+0x200/0x200
[   24.962187]  ? genl_bind+0xc0/0xc0
[   24.962217]  ? netlink_rcv_skb+0xaa/0xd0
[   24.962259]  ? genl_rcv+0x24/0x40
[   24.962300]  ? netlink_unicast+0x224/0x2f0
[   24.962345]  ? netlink_sendmsg+0x30b/0x3d0
[   24.962388]  ? ____sys_sendmsg+0x109/0x1b0
[   24.962388]  ? ____sys_sendmsg+0x109/0x1b0
[   24.962440]  ? __import_iovec+0x2e/0x110
[   24.962482]  ? ___sys_sendmsg+0xbe/0xe0
[   24.962525]  ? mod_objcg_state+0x25c/0x330
[   24.962576]  ? __dentry_kill+0x19e/0x1d0
[   24.962618]  ? call_rcu+0x18f/0x270
[   24.962660]  ? __dentry_kill+0x19e/0x1d0
[   24.962702]  ? __x64_sys_sendmsg+0x70/0x90
[   24.962744]  ? do_syscall_64+0x3d/0x80
[   24.962796]  ? exit_to_user_mode_prepare+0x1b/0x70
[   24.962852]  ? entry_SYSCA
---truncated---

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-53086?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2023-53086?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2023-53086 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-53086 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-2023-53086 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2023-53086 is a high-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 2 May 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-2023-53086 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-2023-53086/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-53086/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-53086
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-53086
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-53086

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-53086/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.
