Vulnerability · Published Sep 15, 2025 · Assigned by Linux

CVE-2022-50279wifi: rtlwifi: Fix global-out-of-bounds bug in _rtl8812ae_phy_set_txpower_limit()

High 7.1

In plain English

A high-severity security flaw in Linux from Linux. There are no confirmed reports of exploitation so far. The chance it is exploited in the next 30 days is estimated at 0.2% (higher than 6% of all known vulnerabilities). Fixed versions are available - upgrade the affected package.

Severity (CVSS NVD)7.1High
Exploit odds (30 days)0.2%top 94.4% of all CVEs
Exploited in the wildNo reportsCISA SSVC: none
Attack toolingNoneno public tooling known

Official description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: wifi: rtlwifi: Fix global-out-of-bounds bug in _rtl8812ae_phy_set_txpower_limit() There is a global-out-of-bounds reported by KASAN: BUG: KASAN: global-out-of-bounds in _rtl8812ae_eq_n_byte.part.0+0x3d/0x84 [rtl8821ae] Read of size 1 at addr ffffffffa0773c43 by task NetworkManager/411 CPU: 6 PID: 411 Comm: NetworkManager Tainted: G D 6.1.0-rc8+ #144 e15588508517267d37 Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (Q35 + ICH9, 2009), Call Trace: <TASK> ... kasan_report+0xbb/0x1c0 _rtl8812ae_eq_n_byte.part.0+0x3d/0x84 [rtl8821ae] rtl8821ae_phy_bb_config.cold+0x346/0x641 [rtl8821ae] rtl8821ae_hw_init+0x1f5e/0x79b0 [rtl8821ae] ... </TASK> The root cause of the problem is that the comparison order of "prate_section" in _rtl8812ae_phy_set_txpower_limit() is wrong. The _rtl8812ae_eq_n_byte() is used to compare the first n bytes of the two strings from tail to head, which causes the problem. In the _rtl8812ae_phy_set_txpower_limit(), it was originally intended to meet this requirement by carefully designing the comparison order. For example, "pregulation" and "pbandwidth" are compared in order of length from small to large, first is 3 and last is 4. However, the comparison order of "prate_section" dose not obey such order requirement, therefore when "prate_section" is "HT", when comparing from tail to head, it will lead to access out of bounds in _rtl8812ae_eq_n_byte(). As mentioned above, the _rtl8812ae_eq_n_byte() has the same function as strcmp(), so just strcmp() is enough. Fix it by removing _rtl8812ae_eq_n_byte() and use strcmp() barely. Although it can be fixed by adjusting the comparison order of "prate_section", this may cause the value of "rate_section" to not be from 0 to 5. In addition, commit "21e4b0726dc6" not only moved driver from staging to regular tree, but also added setting txpower limit function during the driver config phase, so the problem was introduced by this commit.

Affected packages & fixed versions

EcosystemPackageFixed inAdvisory
Debian:12linux6.1.20-1DEBIAN-CVE-2022-50279
Debian:13linux6.1.20-1DEBIAN-CVE-2022-50279
Debian:14linux6.1.20-1DEBIAN-CVE-2022-50279
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux5.15.0-75.82UBUNTU-CVE-2022-50279
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-allwinner-5.19no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2022-50279
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-aws5.15.0-1038.43UBUNTU-CVE-2022-50279
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-aws-5.19no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2022-50279
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-aws-6.2no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2022-50279
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-aws-6.5no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2022-50279
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-azure5.15.0-1040.47UBUNTU-CVE-2022-50279
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-azure-5.19no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2022-50279
Ubuntu:24.04:LTSlinux-azure-6.11no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2022-50279
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-azure-6.2no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2022-50279
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-azure-6.5no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2022-50279
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-azure-fde5.15.0-1041.48.1UBUNTU-CVE-2022-50279
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-azure-fde-5.19no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2022-50279
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-azure-fde-6.2no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2022-50279
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-gcp5.15.0-1036.44UBUNTU-CVE-2022-50279
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-gcp-5.19no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2022-50279
Ubuntu:24.04:LTSlinux-gcp-6.11no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2022-50279
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-gcp-6.2no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2022-50279
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-gcp-6.5no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2022-50279
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-gke5.15.0-1036.41UBUNTU-CVE-2022-50279
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-gkeop5.15.0-1022.27UBUNTU-CVE-2022-50279
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-hwe-5.19no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2022-50279
Ubuntu:24.04:LTSlinux-hwe-6.11no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2022-50279
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-hwe-6.2no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2022-50279
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-hwe-6.5no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2022-50279
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-ibm5.15.0-1032.35UBUNTU-CVE-2022-50279
Ubuntu:24.04:LTSlinux-intelno fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2022-50279
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-intel-iot-realtimeno fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2022-50279
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-intel-iotg5.15.0-1033.38UBUNTU-CVE-2022-50279
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-kvm5.15.0-1035.40UBUNTU-CVE-2022-50279
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-lowlatency5.15.0-75.82UBUNTU-CVE-2022-50279
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-lowlatency-hwe-5.19no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2022-50279
Ubuntu:24.04:LTSlinux-lowlatency-hwe-6.11no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2022-50279
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-lowlatency-hwe-6.2no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2022-50279
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-lowlatency-hwe-6.5no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2022-50279
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-nvidia5.15.0-1027.27UBUNTU-CVE-2022-50279
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-nvidia-6.2no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2022-50279
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-nvidia-6.5no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2022-50279
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-nvidia-tegra5.15.0-1015.15UBUNTU-CVE-2022-50279
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-oem-5.17no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2022-50279
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-oem-6.0no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2022-50279
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-oem-6.1no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2022-50279
Ubuntu:24.04:LTSlinux-oem-6.11no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2022-50279
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-oem-6.5no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2022-50279
Ubuntu:24.04:LTSlinux-oem-6.8no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2022-50279
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-oracle5.15.0-1037.43UBUNTU-CVE-2022-50279
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-oracle-6.5no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2022-50279
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-raspi5.15.0-1032.35UBUNTU-CVE-2022-50279
Ubuntu:24.04:LTSlinux-raspi-realtimeno fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2022-50279
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-realtimeno fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2022-50279
Ubuntu:24.04:LTSlinux-realtimeno fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2022-50279
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-riscvno fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2022-50279
Ubuntu:24.04:LTSlinux-riscvno fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2022-50279
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-riscv-5.19no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2022-50279
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-riscv-6.5no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2022-50279
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-starfive-5.19no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2022-50279
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-starfive-6.2no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2022-50279
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-starfive-6.5no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2022-50279

Affected products (as reported)

VendorProductVersions
Linux Linux 21e4b0726dc671c423e2dc9a85364716219c4502 – before fc3442247716fc426bbcf62ed65e086e48a6d44f21e4b0726dc671c423e2dc9a85364716219c4502 – before 28ea268d95e57cdf6394a058f0d854206d47877221e4b0726dc671c423e2dc9a85364716219c4502 – before 1e950b9a841bc96e98ee25680d5c7aa305120be121e4b0726dc671c423e2dc9a85364716219c4502 – before 0c962dcd6bf64b78eaffc09e497a2beb4e48bc3221e4b0726dc671c423e2dc9a85364716219c4502 – before f1fe40120de6ad4ffa8299fde035a5feba10d4fb21e4b0726dc671c423e2dc9a85364716219c4502 – before 057b52461dc005ecd85a3e4998913b1492ec0f7221e4b0726dc671c423e2dc9a85364716219c4502 – before 117dbeda22ec5ea0918254d03b540ef8b8a64d53
Linux Linux 3.18

References