Junglewise Threat Intelligence

CVE-2024-38565: Linux Kernel ar5523 Wi-Fi driver missing endpoint verification

CVE-2024-38565 · Severity: medium · CVSS 5.5 · Published 2024-06-19

Technologies: Linux Kernel. Vendors: Linux.

Executive brief

A vulnerability exists in the Linux kernel driver for certain Atheros USB wireless adapters. If a specially crafted or malicious USB device is connected to the system, it can trigger a kernel warning or crash by providing unexpected communication endpoints. This primarily impacts the availability of the system, potentially leading to a denial-of-service.

Technical details

The vulnerability is a missing check for USB endpoint types in the ar5523 Wi-Fi driver (drivers/net/wireless/ath/ar5523/ar5523.c). During the probe phase, the driver attempts to submit USB Request Blocks (URBs) to endpoints without verifying that the endpoints match the expected bulk transfer type. An attacker with the ability to connect a malicious USB device can trigger a 'BOGUS urb xfer' warning in the USB core (usb_submit_urb), potentially leading to a kernel panic or denial-of-service. The fix involves implementing proper endpoint verification using usb_check_bulk_endpoints() during the ar5523_probe function.

Affected products

  • Linux Linux Kernel 3.8 to 4.19.316, 4.20 to 5.4.278, 5.5 to 5.10.219, 5.11 to 5.15.161, 5.16 to 6.1.93, 6.2 to 6.6.33, 6.7 to 6.8.12, 6.9 to 6.9.3

Timeline

  • 2024-04-08: patched: Initial patch submitted by Nikita Zhandarovich
  • 2024-06-19: advisory: CVE-2024-38565 published

References

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