# CVE-2024-46755: wifi: mwifiex: Do not return unused priv in mwifiex_get_priv_by_id()

> A local attacker can cause a kernel crash by interrupting wpa_supplicant during AP startup, leading to a NULL pointer dereference in the mwifiex 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:** 18 Sep 2024
- **Updated:** 5 Aug 2026
- **Also known as:** AZL-49684, BELL-CVE-2024-46755, DEBIAN-CVE-2024-46755, GHSA-ch3p-mhx6-fjx9, UBUNTU-CVE-2024-46755

## What is CVE-2024-46755?

CVE-2024-46755 is a high-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 18 Sep 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: mwifiex: Do not return unused priv in mwifiex_get_priv_by_id()

mwifiex_get_priv_by_id() returns the priv pointer corresponding to
the bss_num and bss_type, but without checking if the priv is actually
currently in use.
Unused priv pointers do not have a wiphy attached to them which can
lead to NULL pointer dereferences further down the callstack.  Fix
this by returning only used priv pointers which have priv->bss_mode
set to something else than NL80211_IFTYPE_UNSPECIFIED.

Said NULL pointer dereference happened when an Accesspoint was started
with wpa_supplicant -i mlan0 with this config:

network={
        ssid="somessid"
        mode=2
        frequency=2412
        key_mgmt=WPA-PSK WPA-PSK-SHA256
        proto=RSN
        group=CCMP
        pairwise=CCMP
        psk="12345678"
}

When waiting for the AP to be established, interrupting wpa_supplicant
with <ctrl-c> and starting it again this happens:

| Unable to handle kernel NULL pointer dereference at virtual address 0000000000000140
| Mem abort info:
|   ESR = 0x0000000096000004
|   EC = 0x25: DABT (current EL), IL = 32 bits
|   SET = 0, FnV = 0
|   EA = 0, S1PTW = 0
|   FSC = 0x04: level 0 translation fault
| Data abort info:
|   ISV = 0, ISS = 0x00000004, ISS2 = 0x00000000
|   CM = 0, WnR = 0, TnD = 0, TagAccess = 0
|   GCS = 0, Overlay = 0, DirtyBit = 0, Xs = 0
| user pgtable: 4k pages, 48-bit VAs, pgdp=0000000046d96000
| [0000000000000140] pgd=0000000000000000, p4d=0000000000000000
| Internal error: Oops: 0000000096000004 [#1] PREEMPT SMP
| Modules linked in: caam_jr caamhash_desc spidev caamalg_desc crypto_engine authenc libdes mwifiex_sdio
+mwifiex crct10dif_ce cdc_acm onboard_usb_hub fsl_imx8_ddr_perf imx8m_ddrc rtc_ds1307 lm75 rtc_snvs
+imx_sdma caam imx8mm_thermal spi_imx error imx_cpufreq_dt fuse ip_tables x_tables ipv6
| CPU: 0 PID: 8 Comm: kworker/0:1 Not tainted 6.9.0-00007-g937242013fce-dirty #18
| Hardware name: somemachine (DT)
| Workqueue: events sdio_irq_work
| pstate: 00000005 (nzcv daif -PAN -UAO -TCO -DIT -SSBS BTYPE=--)
| pc : mwifiex_get_cfp+0xd8/0x15c [mwifiex]
| lr : mwifiex_get_cfp+0x34/0x15c [mwifiex]
| sp : ffff8000818b3a70
| x29: ffff8000818b3a70 x28: ffff000006bfd8a5 x27: 0000000000000004
| x26: 000000000000002c x25: 0000000000001511 x24: 0000000002e86bc9
| x23: ffff000006bfd996 x22: 0000000000000004 x21: ffff000007bec000
| x20: 000000000000002c x19: 0000000000000000 x18: 0000000000000000
| x17: 000000040044ffff x16: 00500072b5503510 x15: ccc283740681e517
| x14: 0201000101006d15 x13: 0000000002e8ff43 x12: 002c01000000ffb1
| x11: 0100000000000000 x10: 02e8ff43002c0100 x9 : 0000ffb100100157
| x8 : ffff000003d20000 x7 : 00000000000002f1 x6 : 00000000ffffe124
| x5 : 0000000000000001 x4 : 0000000000000003 x3 : 0000000000000000
| x2 : 0000000000000000 x1 : 0001000000011001 x0 : 0000000000000000
| Call trace:
|  mwifiex_get_cfp+0xd8/0x15c [mwifiex]
|  mwifiex_parse_single_response_buf+0x1d0/0x504 [mwifiex]
|  mwifiex_handle_event_ext_scan_report+0x19c/0x2f8 [mwifiex]
|  mwifiex_process_sta_event+0x298/0xf0c [mwifiex]
|  mwifiex_process_event+0x110/0x238 [mwifiex]
|  mwifiex_main_process+0x428/0xa44 [mwifiex]
|  mwifiex_sdio_interrupt+0x64/0x12c [mwifiex_sdio]
|  process_sdio_pending_irqs+0x64/0x1b8
|  sdio_irq_work+0x4c/0x7c
|  process_one_work+0x148/0x2a0
|  worker_thread+0x2fc/0x40c
|  kthread+0x110/0x114
|  ret_from_fork+0x10/0x20
| Code: a94153f3 a8c37bfd d50323bf d65f03c0 (f940a000)
| ---[ end trace 0000000000000000 ]---

Weakness: CWE-476 (NULL Pointer Dereference)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2024-46755?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2024-46755?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2024-46755 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2024-46755 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-2024-46755 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2024-46755 is a high-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 18 Sep 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-2024-46755 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-2024-46755/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-46755/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2024-46755
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2024-46755
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2024-46755

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-46755/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.