# CVE-2024-43881: wifi: ath12k: change DMA direction while mapping reinjected packets

> An attacker can leak private information from kernel memory due to incorrect DMA direction handling in the ath12k WiFi driver.

- **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:** 21 Aug 2024
- **Updated:** 5 Aug 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2024-43881, DEBIAN-CVE-2024-43881, GHSA-9w5w-xqmf-4qcw, UBUNTU-CVE-2024-43881

## What is CVE-2024-43881?

CVE-2024-43881 is a high-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 21 Aug 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: ath12k: change DMA direction while mapping reinjected packets

For fragmented packets, ath12k reassembles each fragment as a normal
packet and then reinjects it into HW ring. In this case, the DMA
direction should be DMA_TO_DEVICE, not DMA_FROM_DEVICE. Otherwise,
an invalid payload may be reinjected into the HW and
subsequently delivered to the host.

Given that arbitrary memory can be allocated to the skb buffer,
knowledge about the data contained in the reinjected buffer is lacking.
Consequently, there’s a risk of private information being leaked.

Tested-on: QCN9274 hw2.0 PCI WLAN.WBE.1.1.1-00209-QCAHKSWPL_SILICONZ-1

Weakness: CWE-668 (Exposure of Resource to Wrong Sphere)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2024-43881?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2024-43881?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2024-43881 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2024-43881 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-2024-43881 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2024-43881 is a high-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 21 Aug 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-2024-43881 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-2024-43881/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-43881/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2024-43881
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2024-43881
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2024-43881

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-43881/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.