CVE-2023-53588 wifi: mac80211: check for station first in client probe
A missing station check in the Linux kernel Wi-Fi subsystem allows triggering a warning and potential crash when probing clients before the AP is started.
- 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-2023-53588?
CVE-2023-53588 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 4 Oct 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: mac80211: check for station first in client probe
When probing a client, first check if we have it, and then check for the channel context, otherwise you can trigger the warning there easily by probing when the AP isn't even started yet. Since a client existing means the AP is also operating, we can then keep the warning.
Also simplify the moved code a bit.
Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-53588?
It affects 1 product.
Products include Linux kernel.
How do I fix CVE-2023-53588?
Apply the vendor's patch.
Is CVE-2023-53588 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-53588 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Other vulnerabilities in Linux kernel
Sources
Also known as AZL-77402, BELL-CVE-2023-53588, DEBIAN-CVE-2023-53588, GHSA-qq6w-hrfm-74vg, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-11-CVE-2023-53588, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2204-CVE-2023-53588 and 1 more.