# CVE-2023-53764: wifi: ath12k: Handle lock during peer_id find

> A missing lock in the ath12k WiFi driver can cause a kernel warning and potential system instability when processing WBM errors.

- **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:** 8 Dec 2025
- **Updated:** 15 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2023-53764, GHSA-qjv9-pc7w-9xrj, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-12-CVE-2023-53764, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2204-CVE-2023-53764, UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53764

## What is CVE-2023-53764?

CVE-2023-53764 is a high-severity vulnerability in Linux, published on 8 Dec 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: ath12k: Handle lock during peer_id find

ath12k_peer_find_by_id() requires that the caller hold the
ab->base_lock. Currently the WBM error path does not hold
the lock and calling that function, leads to the
following lockdep_assert()in QCN9274:

[105162.160893] ------------[ cut here ]------------
[105162.160916] WARNING: CPU: 3 PID: 0 at drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath12k/peer.c:71 ath12k_peer_find_by_id+0x52/0x60 [ath12k]
[105162.160933] Modules linked in: ath12k(O) qrtr_mhi qrtr mac80211 cfg80211 mhi qmi_helpers libarc4 nvme nvme_core [last unloaded: ath12k(O)]
[105162.160967] CPU: 3 PID: 0 Comm: swapper/3 Tainted: G        W  O       6.1.0-rc2+ #3
[105162.160972] Hardware name: Intel(R) Client Systems NUC8i7HVK/NUC8i7HVB, BIOS HNKBLi70.86A.0056.2019.0506.1527 05/06/2019
[105162.160977] RIP: 0010:ath12k_peer_find_by_id+0x52/0x60 [ath12k]
[105162.160990] Code: 07 eb 0f 39 68 24 74 0a 48 8b 00 48 39 f8 75 f3 31 c0 5b 5d c3 48 8d bf b0 f2 00 00 be ff ff ff ff e8 22 20 c4 e2 85 c0 75 bf <0f> 0b eb bb 66 2e 0f 1f 84 00 00 00 00 00 41 54 4c 8d a7 98 f2 00
[105162.160996] RSP: 0018:ffffa223001acc60 EFLAGS: 00010246
[105162.161003] RAX: 0000000000000000 RBX: ffff9f0573940000 RCX: 0000000000000000
[105162.161008] RDX: 0000000000000001 RSI: ffffffffa3951c8e RDI: ffffffffa39a96d7
[105162.161013] RBP: 000000000000000a R08: 0000000000000000 R09: 0000000000000000
[105162.161017] R10: ffffa223001acb40 R11: ffffffffa3d57c60 R12: ffff9f057394f2e0
[105162.161022] R13: ffff9f0573940000 R14: ffff9f04ecd659c0 R15: ffff9f04d5a9b040
[105162.161026] FS:  0000000000000000(0000) GS:ffff9f0575600000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000
[105162.161031] CS:  0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033
[105162.161036] CR2: 00001d5c8277a008 CR3: 00000001e6224006 CR4: 00000000003706e0
[105162.161041] Call Trace:
[105162.161046]  <IRQ>
[105162.161051]  ath12k_dp_rx_process_wbm_err+0x6da/0xaf0 [ath12k]
[105162.161072]  ? ath12k_dp_rx_process_err+0x80e/0x15a0 [ath12k]
[105162.161084]  ? __lock_acquire+0x4ca/0x1a60
[105162.161104]  ath12k_dp_service_srng+0x263/0x310 [ath12k]
[105162.161120]  ath12k_pci_ext_grp_napi_poll+0x1c/0x70 [ath12k]
[105162.161133]  __napi_poll+0x22/0x260
[105162.161141]  net_rx_action+0x2f8/0x380
[105162.161153]  __do_softirq+0xd0/0x4c9
[105162.161162]  irq_exit_rcu+0x88/0xe0
[105162.161169]  common_interrupt+0xa5/0xc0
[105162.161174]  </IRQ>
[105162.161179]  <TASK>
[105162.161184]  asm_common_interrupt+0x22/0x40

Handle spin lock/unlock in WBM error path to hold the necessary lock
expected by ath12k_peer_find_by_id().

Tested-on: QCN9274 hw2.0 PCI WLAN.WBE.1.0-03171-QCAHKSWPL_SILICONZ-1

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-53764?


## How do I fix CVE-2023-53764?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2023-53764 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-53764 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2023-53764 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2023-53764 is a high-severity vulnerability in Linux, published on 8 Dec 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-2023-53764 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Linux. 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-2023-53764/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-53764/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-53764
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-53764
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-53764

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-53764/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.