HIGH Introduced in 2.6.15
libipw AssocResp OOB
CVE-2026-98348
CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:H
KernelScan AI8.0HIGH
01Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: wifi: libipw: reject too-short association responses libipw_handle_assoc_resp() reads the capability, status and aid fields of the 30-byte association response prefix and then computes the information element length as stats->len - sizeof(*frame) stats->len is a u16 and sizeof() has type size_t, so the subtraction is evaluated as size_t and wraps instead of going negative. Truncating that to the u16 length parameter of libipw_parse_info_param() turns a frame shorter than the fixed fields into a length near 64 KiB, and the parser then reads past the receive buffer. Both the ipw2100 and ipw2200 management receive paths reach this function having established only that the frame carries the generic 24-byte three-address header. Reject the frame before any fixed field is touched. Found by an AI-assisted review of length arithmetic in management frame parsers. Verified with a KUnit case under Generic KASAN on arm64 under QEMU; I do not have the hardware, so it is not tested on a real device.
02KernelScan AI Analysis
Risk summary
A device using the Intel ipw2100 or ipw2200 WiFi driver is vulnerable to a crafted association response frame that triggers an out-of-bounds read of up to 64 KiB past the receive buffer. An attacker within WiFi range can exploit this without any privileges or user interaction, potentially leaking kernel memory or causing a kernel panic.
Vulnerability analysis
When a WiFi association response frame shorter than the expected fixed-length prefix is received, the driver computes the information-element length by subtracting the prefix size from the total frame length. Because both values are treated as unsigned, a frame shorter than the prefix causes the subtraction to wrap to a value near 64 KiB rather than going negative. The parser then uses this inflated length to read far past the end of the receive buffer, leaking kernel memory or crashing the system. The fix adds a length check at the top of the handler that rejects any frame shorter than the fixed prefix before any field is accessed. The vulnerable path is reached from the ipw2100 and ipw2200 WiFi receive paths after only a basic 24-byte header check, so an attacker within radio range of a device using one of these old Intel WiFi adapters can trigger it by sending a crafted association response with no privileges or user interaction.
Lifecycle
03Fix Versions
| Branch | Introduced | Fixed in | Patch commit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5.10 | 2.6.15 | 5.10.271 | 766268b429ae |
| 5.15 | 2.6.15 | 5.15.222 | d70bdb84cf17 |
| 6.1 | 2.6.15 | 6.1.189 | 400b89217058 |
| 6.6 | 2.6.15 | 6.6.158 | 46aa75291056 |
| 6.12 | 2.6.15 | 6.12.112 | e3025ecdb205 |
| 6.18 | 2.6.15 | 6.18.54 | 14cb425ba1f3 |
| 7.2 | 2.6.15 | 7.2.8 | af1b69be19c3 |
| mainline | 2.6.15 | 7.3-rc4 | adb7118b7d2c |