# CVE-2024-27391: wifi: wilc1000: do not realloc workqueue everytime an interface is added

> Repeatedly adding and deleting WiFi interfaces causes workqueue resource leaks, potentially leading to system instability or denial of service.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.5 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/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:** 1 May 2024
- **Updated:** 11 May 2026
- **Also known as:** AZL-40325, BELL-CVE-2024-27391, DEBIAN-CVE-2024-27391, GHSA-g3jj-jjrf-q5mw, UBUNTU-CVE-2024-27391

## What is CVE-2024-27391?

CVE-2024-27391 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 1 May 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: wilc1000: do not realloc workqueue everytime an interface is added

Commit 09ed8bfc5215 ("wilc1000: Rename workqueue from "WILC_wq" to
"NETDEV-wq"") moved workqueue creation in wilc_netdev_ifc_init in order to
set the interface name in the workqueue name. However, while the driver
needs only one workqueue, the wilc_netdev_ifc_init is called each time we
add an interface over a phy, which in turns overwrite the workqueue with a
new one. This can be observed with the following commands:

for i in $(seq 0 10)
do
  iw phy phy0 interface add wlan1 type managed
  iw dev wlan1 del
done
ps -eo pid,comm|grep wlan

 39 kworker/R-wlan0
 98 kworker/R-wlan1
102 kworker/R-wlan1
105 kworker/R-wlan1
108 kworker/R-wlan1
111 kworker/R-wlan1
114 kworker/R-wlan1
117 kworker/R-wlan1
120 kworker/R-wlan1
123 kworker/R-wlan1
126 kworker/R-wlan1
129 kworker/R-wlan1

Fix this leakage by putting back hif_workqueue allocation in
wilc_cfg80211_init. Regarding the workqueue name, it is indeed relevant to
set it lowercase, however it is not  attached to a specific netdev, so
enforcing netdev name in the name is not so relevant. Still, enrich the
name with the wiphy name to make it clear which phy is using the workqueue.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2024-27391?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2024-27391?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2024-27391 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2024-27391 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-2024-27391 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2024-27391 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 1 May 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-2024-27391 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-2024-27391/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-27391/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2024-27391
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2024-27391
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2024-27391

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-27391/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.