# CVE-2024-26897: wifi: ath9k: delay all of ath9k_wmi_event_tasklet() until init is complete

> A race condition in the ath9k WiFi driver allows a local attacker to trigger a null pointer dereference, causing a system crash.

- **Severity:** Medium 4.7 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H`)
- **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:** Yes
- **Published:** 17 Apr 2024
- **Updated:** 15 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2024-26897, DEBIAN-CVE-2024-26897, GHSA-96gr-7mgw-2637, UBUNTU-CVE-2024-26897

## What is CVE-2024-26897?

CVE-2024-26897 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Debian Debian Linux, published on 17 Apr 2024. 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: ath9k: delay all of ath9k_wmi_event_tasklet() until init is complete

The ath9k_wmi_event_tasklet() used in ath9k_htc assumes that all the data
structures have been fully initialised by the time it runs. However, because of
the order in which things are initialised, this is not guaranteed to be the
case, because the device is exposed to the USB subsystem before the ath9k driver
initialisation is completed.

We already committed a partial fix for this in commit:
8b3046abc99e ("ath9k_htc: fix NULL pointer dereference at ath9k_htc_tx_get_packet()")

However, that commit only aborted the WMI_TXSTATUS_EVENTID command in the event
tasklet, pairing it with an "initialisation complete" bit in the TX struct. It
seems syzbot managed to trigger the race for one of the other commands as well,
so let's just move the existing synchronisation bit to cover the whole
tasklet (setting it at the end of ath9k_htc_probe_device() instead of inside
ath9k_tx_init()).

Weakness: CWE-362 (Concurrent Execution using Shared Resource with Improper Synchronization)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2024-26897?

It affects 2 products.


Products: Debian Debian Linux, Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2024-26897?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2024-26897 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2024-26897 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Debian Debian Linux

- [CVE-2015-3306](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2015-3306/): ProFTPD Improper Access Control (critical 10.0, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2025-49113](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-49113/): RoundCube Webmail Deserialization of Untrusted Data (critical 9.9, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2026-24061](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-24061/): GNU InetUtils Argument Injection (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2025-39682](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-39682/): Linux Kernel Improper Check for Unusual or Exceptional Conditions (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2024-9680](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-9680/): Mozilla Firefox Use-After-Free (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2024-26897 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2024-26897 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Debian Debian Linux, published on 17 Apr 2024. 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-2024-26897 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Debian Debian 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-2024-26897/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-26897/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2024-26897
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2024-26897
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2024-26897

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-26897/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.