CVE-2023-54229
NoneCVSS
—
EPSS
0.2%
Published
Dec 30, 2025
CISA due date
—
Cloudanix analysis
A configuration mismatch in certain Linux WiFi hardware drivers can stop wireless networks from starting up correctly.
- Exploitation
- Other
- Attacker needs
- None
- Complexity
- Theoretical
- Impact
- Denial Of Service
- Component
- OS kernel
- Class
- Improper Input Validation
- Remediation
- Upgrade
- Effort
- Medium
- Patch risk
- Low
What it actually does
A typo in channel range handling causes 6GHz-only PHY registration to fail with a wiphy_register warning and -EINVAL when BDF excludes the 7115MHz channel, preventing ieee80211_hw registration.
Why it matters to the business
Certain WiFi hardware on Linux systems may fail to initialize, resulting in loss of wireless connectivity; low EPSS and no KEV status indicate limited operational urgency despite 302 days since publication.
How an attack unfolds
An attacker supplies a BDF lacking the full 6GHz channel range to a 6GHz-only ath11k device, triggering the improper input validation during driver event processing and causing registration failure.
How to fix it
Apply the upstream fix in commit 532f8bac60419eb28158770470b9bb655de207c8 or upgrade to a Linux kernel containing this change; reboot and reload the driver after update.
How to confirm the fix worked
Confirm kernel contains commit 532f8bac60419eb28158770470b9bb655de207c8, then test 6GHz-only hardware registration and verify absence of the wiphy_register warning in dmesg.
Typical attack path
- Load ath11k_pci module on affected hardware
- Provide BDF without 7115MHz channel for 6GHz-only PHY
- Trigger QMI firmware ready event
- Observe wiphy_register failure and radio registration error -22
How to detect it
Search kernel logs for ath11k_pci registration errors and the wiphy_register call trace; correlate with 6GHz PHY initialization attempts.
- wiphy_register+0x914/0x954
- ieee80211 registration failed: -22
- failed register the radio with mac80211: -22
- failed to create pdev core: -22
- WARNING: CPU:.*wiphy_register
What your security team should do
- Prioritize kernel upgrade on systems with ath11k 6GHz hardware
- Review dmesg for ath11k registration failures during driver load
- Monitor EPSS trend remains flat at 0.002 before deprioritizing
The record
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: wifi: ath11k: fix registration of 6Ghz-only phy without the full channel range Because of what seems to be a typo, a 6Ghz-only phy for which the BDF does not allow the 7115Mhz channel will fail to register: WARNING: CPU: 2 PID: 106 at net/wireless/core.c:907 wiphy_register+0x914/0x954 Modules linked in: ath11k_pci sbsa_gwdt CPU: 2 PID: 106 Comm: kworker/u8:5 Not tainted 6.3.0-rc7-next-20230418-00549-g1e096a17625a-dirty #9 Hardware name: Freebox V7R Board (DT) Workqueue: ath11k_qmi_driver_event ath11k_qmi_driver_event_work pstate: 60000005 (nZCv daif -PAN -UAO -TCO -DIT -SSBS BTYPE=--) pc : wiphy_register+0x914/0x954 lr : ieee80211_register_hw+0x67c/0xc10 sp : ffffff800b123aa0 x29: ffffff800b123aa0 x28: 0000000000000000 x27: 0000000000000000 x26: 0000000000000000 x25: 0000000000000006 x24: ffffffc008d51418 x23: ffffffc008cb0838 x22: ffffff80176c2460 x21: 0000000000000168 x20: ffffff80176c0000 x19: ffffff80176c03e0 x18: 0000000000000014 x17: 00000000cbef338c x16: 00000000d2a26f21 x15: 00000000ad6bb85f x14: 0000000000000020 x13: 0000000000000020 x12: 00000000ffffffbd x11: 0000000000000208 x10: 00000000fffffdf7 x9 : ffffffc009394718 x8 : ffffff80176c0528 x7 : 000000007fffffff x6 : 0000000000000006 x5 : 0000000000000005 x4 : ffffff800b304284 x3 : ffffff800b304284 x2 : ffffff800b304d98 x1 : 0000000000000000 x0 : 0000000000000000 Call trace: wiphy_register+0x914/0x954 ieee80211_register_hw+0x67c/0xc10 ath11k_mac_register+0x7c4/0xe10 ath11k_core_qmi_firmware_ready+0x1f4/0x570 ath11k_qmi_driver_event_work+0x198/0x590 process_one_work+0x1b8/0x328 worker_thread+0x6c/0x414 kthread+0x100/0x104 ret_from_fork+0x10/0x20 ---[ end trace 0000000000000000 ]--- ath11k_pci 0002:01:00.0: ieee80211 registration failed: -22 ath11k_pci 0002:01:00.0: failed register the radio with mac80211: -22 ath11k_pci 0002:01:00.0: failed to create pdev core: -22
Affected packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Introduced | Fixed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Linux | Kernel | 0 | 5.10.188 |
| Linux | Kernel | 5.9.0 | 5.10.188 |
| 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 Micro 5.5 | kernel-rt | 0 | 5.14.21-150500.13.118.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Micro 5.5 | kernel-source-rt | 0 | 5.14.21-150500.13.118.1 |
| 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 |
Related vulnerabilities
- CVE-2026-23226 In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ksmbd: add chann_lock… Also affects Kernel
- CVE-2026-23225 In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: sched/mmcid: Don't… Also affects Kernel
- CVE-2026-23230 In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: smb: client: split… Also affects Kernel
- CVE-2026-23224 In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: erofs: fix UAF issue… Also affects Kernel
- CVE-2026-23227 In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: drm/exynos: vidi: use… Also affects Kernel
- CVE-2026-23223 In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: xfs: fix UAF in… Also affects Kernel
- CVE-2026-23228 In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: smb: server: fix leak… Also affects Kernel
- CVE-2026-23229 In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: crypto: virtio - Add… Also affects Kernel