Executive brief
A vulnerability in the Linux kernel's ath12k Wi-Fi driver could cause system instability or unexpected behavior when a wireless connection fails to initialize properly. The issue occurs when the driver fails to clear old connection data after a failed setup attempt, leading to internal errors when a new connection is tried. This primarily affects devices using Qualcomm ath12k wireless hardware in Multi-Link Operation (MLO) mode.
Technical details
A logic error exists in the ath12k driver's handling of virtual interface (vif) links. When an 'arvif' is initialized in non-AP STA mode but Multi-Link Operation (MLO) connection preparation fails before the interface is fully created, the error handling path fails to delete the associated links because it checks the 'is_created' flag. This results in 'ahvif' retaining a stale entry in its 'links_map'. Subsequent attempts to initialize a new 'arvif' with the same link ID trigger a WARN_ON in 'ath12k_mac_op_change_vif_links'. The fix involves explicitly unassigning the link vif and clearing the mapping even if the interface was not fully created.
Affected products
- Linux Linux Kernel ath12k driver
Timeline
- 2026-01-27: other: Patch authored
- 2026-06-03: advisory: NVD publication date