CVE-2023-54141
NoneCVSS
—
EPSS
0.2%
Published
Dec 24, 2025
CISA due date
—
Cloudanix analysis
A bug in certain Wi-Fi hardware drivers can cause the whole system to crash when sending data after clients connect.
- Exploitation
- Local Privilege
- Attacker needs
- Local User
- Complexity
- Low
- Impact
- Denial Of Service
- Component
- OS kernel
- Class
- Memory Corruption
- Remediation
- Upgrade
- Effort
- Medium
- Patch risk
- Low
What it actually does
Missing hw_ops->get_ring_selector() implementation for IPQ5018 hardware causes a NULL pointer dereference during ath11k_dp_tx when clients are connected and data transmission occurs.
Why it matters to the business
Wireless access points or routers using IPQ5018 chips experience kernel crashes and reboots under normal client traffic, leading to loss of Wi-Fi connectivity and service disruption.
How an attack unfolds
An attacker connects a client device to the affected AP and triggers normal TX path operations via mac80211 and nl80211, causing the uninitialized function pointer to be called and resulting in a kernel panic.
How to fix it
Update to a kernel containing the fix that adds the missing get_ring_selector() implementation for IPQ5018; apply the referenced commit that initializes the hw_ops member.
How to confirm the fix worked
Confirm the hw_ops structure for IPQ5018 now includes a valid get_ring_selector function pointer and that ath11k loads without triggering NULL dereference on TX operations.
Typical attack path
- Connect a wireless client to the IPQ5018-based AP
- Initiate data transmission or control port traffic through the driver
- ath11k_mac_op_tx calls the unset get_ring_selector hook
- NULL dereference occurs leading to kernel oops and system instability
How to detect it
Search kernel logs for 'Unable to handle kernel NULL pointer dereference' combined with ath11k_dp_tx and hostapd process context; look for PC at 0x0 and LR pointing to ath11k functions.
What your security team should do
- Prioritize patching affected IPQ5018 devices to the fixed kernel version
- Monitor kernel logs for ath11k NULL pointer dereference traces
- Limit exposure by disabling unnecessary TX features until patched
The record
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: wifi: ath11k: Add missing hw_ops->get_ring_selector() for IPQ5018 During sending data after clients connected, hw_ops->get_ring_selector() will be called. But for IPQ5018, this member isn't set, and the following NULL pointer exception will be occurred: [ 38.840478] 8<--- cut here --- [ 38.840517] Unable to handle kernel NULL pointer dereference at virtual address 00000000 ... [ 38.923161] PC is at 0x0 [ 38.927930] LR is at ath11k_dp_tx+0x70/0x730 [ath11k] ... [ 39.063264] Process hostapd (pid: 1034, stack limit = 0x801ceb3d) [ 39.068994] Stack: (0x856a9a68 to 0x856aa000) ... [ 39.438467] [<7f323804>] (ath11k_dp_tx [ath11k]) from [<7f314e6c>] (ath11k_mac_op_tx+0x80/0x190 [ath11k]) [ 39.446607] [<7f314e6c>] (ath11k_mac_op_tx [ath11k]) from [<7f17dbe0>] (ieee80211_handle_wake_tx_queue+0x7c/0xc0 [mac80211]) [ 39.456162] [<7f17dbe0>] (ieee80211_handle_wake_tx_queue [mac80211]) from [<7f174450>] (ieee80211_probereq_get+0x584/0x704 [mac80211]) [ 39.467443] [<7f174450>] (ieee80211_probereq_get [mac80211]) from [<7f178c40>] (ieee80211_tx_prepare_skb+0x1f8/0x248 [mac80211]) [ 39.479334] [<7f178c40>] (ieee80211_tx_prepare_skb [mac80211]) from [<7f179e28>] (__ieee80211_subif_start_xmit+0x32c/0x3d4 [mac80211]) [ 39.491053] [<7f179e28>] (__ieee80211_subif_start_xmit [mac80211]) from [<7f17af08>] (ieee80211_tx_control_port+0x19c/0x288 [mac80211]) [ 39.502946] [<7f17af08>] (ieee80211_tx_control_port [mac80211]) from [<7f0fc704>] (nl80211_tx_control_port+0x174/0x1d4 [cfg80211]) [ 39.515017] [<7f0fc704>] (nl80211_tx_control_port [cfg80211]) from [<808ceac4>] (genl_rcv_msg+0x154/0x340) [ 39.526814] [<808ceac4>] (genl_rcv_msg) from [<808cdb74>] (netlink_rcv_skb+0xb8/0x11c) [ 39.536446] [<808cdb74>] (netlink_rcv_skb) from [<808ce1d0>] (genl_rcv+0x28/0x34) [ 39.544344] [<808ce1d0>] (genl_rcv) from [<808cd234>] (netlink_unicast+0x174/0x274) [ 39.551895] [<808cd234>] (netlink_unicast) from [<808cd510>] (netlink_sendmsg+0x1dc/0x440) [ 39.559362] [<808cd510>] (netlink_sendmsg) from [<808596e0>] (____sys_sendmsg+0x1a8/0x1fc) [ 39.567697] [<808596e0>] (____sys_sendmsg) from [<8085b1a8>] (___sys_sendmsg+0xa4/0xdc) [ 39.575941] [<8085b1a8>] (___sys_sendmsg) from [<8085b310>] (sys_sendmsg+0x44/0x74) [ 39.583841] [<8085b310>] (sys_sendmsg) from [<80300060>] (ret_fast_syscall+0x0/0x40) ... [ 39.620734] Code: bad PC value [ 39.625869] ---[ end trace 8aef983ad3cbc032 ]---
Affected packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Introduced | Fixed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Linux | Kernel | 6.3.0 | 6.3.13 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise High Availability Extension 15 SP6 | kernel-default | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.23.84.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Live Patching 15 SP6 | kernel-default | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.23.84.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Live Patching 15 SP6 | kernel-livepatch-SLE15-SP6_Update_19 | 0 | 1-150600.13.3.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP6-LTSS | kernel-64kb | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.23.84.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP6-LTSS | kernel-default | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.23.84.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP6-LTSS | kernel-default-base | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.23.84.1.150600.12.38.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP6-LTSS | kernel-docs | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.23.84.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP6-LTSS | kernel-obs-build | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.23.84.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP6-LTSS | kernel-source | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.23.84.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP6-LTSS | kernel-syms | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.23.84.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP6-LTSS | kernel-zfcpdump | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.23.84.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 15 SP6 | kernel-default | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.23.84.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 15 SP6 | kernel-default-base | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.23.84.1.150600.12.38.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 15 SP6 | kernel-docs | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.23.84.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 15 SP6 | kernel-obs-build | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.23.84.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 15 SP6 | kernel-source | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.23.84.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 15 SP6 | kernel-syms | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.23.84.1 |
| openSUSE:Leap 15.6 | dtb-aarch64 | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.23.84.1 |
| openSUSE:Leap 15.6 | kernel-64kb | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.23.84.1 |
| openSUSE:Leap 15.6 | kernel-debug | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.23.84.1 |
| openSUSE:Leap 15.6 | kernel-default | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.23.84.1 |
| openSUSE:Leap 15.6 | kernel-default-base | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.23.84.1.150600.12.38.1 |
| openSUSE:Leap 15.6 | kernel-docs | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.23.84.1 |
| openSUSE:Leap 15.6 | kernel-kvmsmall | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.23.84.1 |
| openSUSE:Leap 15.6 | kernel-obs-build | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.23.84.1 |
| openSUSE:Leap 15.6 | kernel-obs-qa | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.23.84.1 |
| openSUSE:Leap 15.6 | kernel-source | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.23.84.1 |
| openSUSE:Leap 15.6 | kernel-syms | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.23.84.1 |
| openSUSE:Leap 15.6 | kernel-zfcpdump | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.23.84.1 |
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