CVE-2023-53226
Description
A flaw out of bounds read in the Linux kernel Marvell mwifiex driver was found in the way user sends malicious Wi-Fi packets. A remote user with Wi-Fi connection could use this flaw to crash the system.
Statement
A vulnerability in the Marvell mwifiex driver (mwifiex, Marvell Wi-Fi) allows malformed over-the-air frames to trigger out-of-bounds reads and an integer underflow in the RX path, which can crash the kernel or drop packets. Remote code execution is highly unlikely — the flaw manifests as OOB reads / length miscalculations (leading to OOPS/panic or DoS), not as a controllable arbitrary-write or instruction pointer corruption, so an attacker cannot reliably gain code execution from this bug. This issue only affects systems running the mwifiex driver; if the system does not use Marvell’s mwifiex module there is no exposure.
Mitigation
To mitigate this issue, prevent module mwifiex from being loaded. Please see https://access.redhat.com/solutions/41278 for how to blacklist a kernel module to prevent it from loading automatically.
Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) Score Details
Info alert:Important note
CVSS scores for open source components depend on vendor-specific factors (e.g. version or build chain). Therefore, Red Hat's score and impact rating can be different from NVD and other vendors. Red Hat remains the authoritative CVE Naming Authority (CNA) source for its products and services (see Red Hat classifications).
CVSS v3 Score Breakdown
| Red Hat | NVD | cve.org | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Base Score | 7.1 | 5.5 | 5.5 |
| Attack Vector | Adjacent Network | Local | Local |
| Attack Complexity | Low | Low | Low |
| Privileges Required | None | Low | Low |
| User Interaction | None | None | None |
| Scope | Unchanged | Unchanged | Unchanged |
| Confidentiality | Low | None | None |
| Integrity Impact | None | None | None |
| Availability Impact | High | High | High |
Vector
Red Hat: CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:H
NVD: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
cve.org: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Understanding the Weakness (CWE)
Confidentiality
Technical Impact: Read Memory
An attacker could get secret values such as cryptographic keys, PII, memory addresses, or other information that could be used in additional attacks.
Confidentiality
Technical Impact: Bypass Protection Mechanism
Out-of-bounds memory could contain memory addresses or other information that can be used to bypass ASLR and other protection mechanisms in order to improve the reliability of exploiting a separate weakness for code execution.
Availability
Technical Impact: DoS: Crash, Exit, or Restart
An attacker could cause a segmentation fault or crash by causing memory to be read outside of the bounds of the buffer. This is especially likely when the code reads a variable amount of data and assumes that a sentinel exists to stop the read operation, such as a NUL in a string.
Other
Technical Impact: Varies by Context
The read operation could produce other undefined or unexpected results.
Frequently Asked Questions
Not sure what something means? Check out our Security Glossary.
Want to get errata notifications? Sign up here.
