# CVE-2024-56609: wifi: rtw88: use ieee80211_purge_tx_queue() to purge TX skb

> A race condition in the rtw88 WiFi driver during module removal can cause a kernel warning and potential system instability.

- **Severity:** High 7.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/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:** 27 Dec 2024
- **Updated:** 11 May 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2024-56609, DEBIAN-CVE-2024-56609, GHSA-74p7-5m3q-64m6, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-11-CVE-2024-56609, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-12-CVE-2024-56609, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2204-CVE-2024-56609, UBUNTU-CVE-2024-56609

## What is CVE-2024-56609?

CVE-2024-56609 is a high-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 27 Dec 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: rtw88: use ieee80211_purge_tx_queue() to purge TX skb

When removing kernel modules by:
   rmmod rtw88_8723cs rtw88_8703b rtw88_8723x rtw88_sdio rtw88_core

Driver uses skb_queue_purge() to purge TX skb, but not report tx status
causing "Have pending ack frames!" warning. Use ieee80211_purge_tx_queue()
to correct this.

Since ieee80211_purge_tx_queue() doesn't take locks, to prevent racing
between TX work and purge TX queue, flush and destroy TX work in advance.

   wlan0: deauthenticating from aa:f5:fd:60:4c:a8 by local
     choice (Reason: 3=DEAUTH_LEAVING)
   ------------[ cut here ]------------
   Have pending ack frames!
   WARNING: CPU: 3 PID: 9232 at net/mac80211/main.c:1691
       ieee80211_free_ack_frame+0x5c/0x90 [mac80211]
   CPU: 3 PID: 9232 Comm: rmmod Tainted: G         C
       6.10.1-200.fc40.aarch64 #1
   Hardware name: pine64 Pine64 PinePhone Braveheart
      (1.1)/Pine64 PinePhone Braveheart (1.1), BIOS 2024.01 01/01/2024
   pstate: 60400005 (nZCv daif +PAN -UAO -TCO -DIT -SSBS BTYPE=--)
   pc : ieee80211_free_ack_frame+0x5c/0x90 [mac80211]
   lr : ieee80211_free_ack_frame+0x5c/0x90 [mac80211]
   sp : ffff80008c1b37b0
   x29: ffff80008c1b37b0 x28: ffff000003be8000 x27: 0000000000000000
   x26: 0000000000000000 x25: ffff000003dc14b8 x24: ffff80008c1b37d0
   x23: ffff000000ff9f80 x22: 0000000000000000 x21: 000000007fffffff
   x20: ffff80007c7e93d8 x19: ffff00006e66f400 x18: 0000000000000000
   x17: ffff7ffffd2b3000 x16: ffff800083fc0000 x15: 0000000000000000
   x14: 0000000000000000 x13: 2173656d61726620 x12: 6b636120676e6964
   x11: 0000000000000000 x10: 000000000000005d x9 : ffff8000802af2b0
   x8 : ffff80008c1b3430 x7 : 0000000000000001 x6 : 0000000000000001
   x5 : 0000000000000000 x4 : 0000000000000000 x3 : 0000000000000000
   x2 : 0000000000000000 x1 : 0000000000000000 x0 : ffff000003be8000
   Call trace:
    ieee80211_free_ack_frame+0x5c/0x90 [mac80211]
    idr_for_each+0x74/0x110
    ieee80211_free_hw+0x44/0xe8 [mac80211]
    rtw_sdio_remove+0x9c/0xc0 [rtw88_sdio]
    sdio_bus_remove+0x44/0x180
    device_remove+0x54/0x90
    device_release_driver_internal+0x1d4/0x238
    driver_detach+0x54/0xc0
    bus_remove_driver+0x78/0x108
    driver_unregister+0x38/0x78
    sdio_unregister_driver+0x2c/0x40
    rtw_8723cs_driver_exit+0x18/0x1000 [rtw88_8723cs]
    __do_sys_delete_module.isra.0+0x190/0x338
    __arm64_sys_delete_module+0x1c/0x30
    invoke_syscall+0x74/0x100
    el0_svc_common.constprop.0+0x48/0xf0
    do_el0_svc+0x24/0x38
    el0_svc+0x3c/0x158
    el0t_64_sync_handler+0x120/0x138
    el0t_64_sync+0x194/0x198
   ---[ end trace 0000000000000000 ]---

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2024-56609?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2024-56609?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2024-56609 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2024-56609 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-2024-56609 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2024-56609 is a high-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 27 Dec 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-2024-56609 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-2024-56609/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-56609/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2024-56609
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2024-56609
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2024-56609

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-56609/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.