HIGH Introduced in 4.12
rtl8723bs WpsAttr Overflow
CVE-2026-90018
CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
KernelScan AI8.7HIGH
01Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: staging: rtl8723bs: fix OOB read / stack overflow in rtw_get_wps_attr() rtw_get_wps_attr() walks WPS attributes inside a WPS IE taken from a wireless management frame. For each candidate attribute it only checks that the fixed 4-byte attribute header (2-byte ID + 2-byte length) fits inside the IE: if (attr_ptr + 4 > wps_ie + wps_ielen) break; u16 attr_id = get_unaligned_be16(attr_ptr); u16 attr_data_len = get_unaligned_be16(attr_ptr + 2); u16 attr_len = attr_data_len + 4; attr_data_len (and therefore attr_len) is read directly from the wire and is never checked against the remaining bytes in the IE before being used as the size of: memcpy(buf_attr, attr_ptr, attr_len); Since attr_len is fully attacker controlled (0 to 65535+4), this is both a heap OOB read of wps_ie, and, more seriously, a stack buffer overflow at several call sites where buf_attr is a single-byte stack variable, e.g. rtw_get_wps_attr_content()'s callers passing WPS_ATTR_SELECTED_REGISTRAR into a stack "u8 sr"/"u8 selected_registrar" (drivers/staging/rtl8723bs/os_dep/ioctl_cfg80211.c, drivers/staging/rtl8723bs/core/rtw_mlme_ext.c). A crafted WPS IE in a beacon or probe response processed during scanning can therefore smash the stack of the parsing thread. rtw_get_wps_attr_content() itself has no independent length check and simply trusts the attr_len it gets back from rtw_get_wps_attr(), so fixing the bound here also fixes that caller. The "attr_ptr + 4 > wps_ie + wps_ielen" header check above was added by commit 1463ca3ec6601 ("staging: rtl8723bs: fix OOB reads in rtw_get_sec_ie(), rtw_get_wapi_ie(), and rtw_get_wps_attr()"), which bounded the fixed header but never extended the check to cover the variable-length attribute data that follows it. Add that missing check before attr_len is used as a memcpy() length or accepted as a match.
02KernelScan AI Analysis
Risk summary
A nearby attacker can exploit a missing length validation in the rtl8723bs WiFi driver's WPS attribute parser to trigger a stack buffer overflow by sending crafted WiFi beacon or probe response frames. The overflow corrupts the kernel stack of the scanning thread, potentially enabling remote code execution or a kernel panic. Any device with this WiFi driver active and within wireless range of an attacker is at risk; no authentication or user interaction is required.
Vulnerability analysis
The rtl8723bs WiFi driver parses WPS attributes from wireless management frames using a length field read directly from the frame data without checking it against the remaining bytes in the Information Element. This attacker-controlled length is then passed to a memory copy into a small stack buffer at several call sites, causing a stack buffer overflow that can corrupt the kernel stack of the thread processing the frame. The fix adds a bounds check that rejects any attribute whose claimed length extends past the end of the IE before that length is used. The vulnerable path is reached when the driver processes a crafted WPS IE in a beacon or probe response during WiFi scanning — any device within wireless range can trigger it with no authentication or user interaction, provided the rtl8723bs driver is loaded and the WiFi interface is active.
Lifecycle
03Fix Versions
| Branch | Introduced | Fixed in | Patch commit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6.1 | 4.12 | 6.1.188 | 3a6457ebf390 |
| 5.15 | 4.12 | 5.15.221 | 931640dfcb8c |
| 6.6 | 4.12 | 6.6.157 | fd5e24ea8373 |
| 7.2 | 4.12 | 7.2.5 | 34f51d196c43 |
| mainline | 4.12 | 7.3-rc2 | 99aa998dec83 |
| 6.12 | 4.12 | 6.12.110 | a53d1ac9ce63 |
| 6.18 | 4.12 | 6.18.51 | ff61aa328935 |
| cip/6.12 | 4.12 | 6.12.111-cip32 | a53d1ac9ce63 |