Findings

CVE-2024-26897

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: wifi: ath9k: delay all of ath9k_wmi_event_tasklet() until init is complete The ath9k_wmi_event_task…

Published Apr 17, 2024 · updated Oct 15, 2026 · linux linux kernel

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: wifi: ath9k: delay all of ath9k_wmi_event_tasklet() until init is complete The ath9k_wmi_event_tasklet() used in ath9k_htc assumes that all the data structures have been fully initialised by the time it runs. However, because of the order in which things are initialised, this is not guaranteed to be the case, because the device is exposed to the USB subsystem before the ath9k driver initialisation is completed. We already committed a partial fix for this in commit: 8b3046abc99e ("ath9k_htc: fix NULL pointer dereference at ath9k_htc_tx_get_packet()") However, that commit only aborted the WMI_TXSTATUS_EVENTID command in the event tasklet, pairing it with an "initialisation complete" bit in the TX struct. It seems syzbot managed to trigger the race for one of the other commands as well, so let's just move the existing synchronisation bit to cover the whole tasklet (setting it at the end of ath9k_htc_probe_device() instead of inside ath9k_tx_init()).

Code

The project this record applies to. Exploit listings stay in References.

Timeline

Detection, updates, and resolution for this record.

  1. Apr 17, 2024 · NIST NVD

    Detected

    In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: wifi: ath9k: delay all of ath9k_wmi_event_tasklet() until init is complete The ath9k_wmi_event_tasklet() used in ath9k_htc assumes that all the data structures have been fully initialised by the time it runs. However, because of the order in which things are initialised, this is not guaranteed to be the case, because the device is

  2. Oct 15, 2026 · NIST NVD

    Updated

    In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: wifi: ath9k: delay all of ath9k_wmi_event_tasklet() until init is complete The ath9k_wmi_event_tasklet() used in ath9k_htc assumes that all the data structures have been fully initialised by the time it runs. However, because of the order in which things are initialised, this is not guaranteed to be the case, because the device is

Affected

  • cpe debian/debian linux10.0
  • cpe linux/linux kernelversion unspecified

Sources

  • CVE.orgVulnerability recordCVE-2024-26897

    Official CVE identifier

    cve.org
  • FIRST EPSSExploitation probabilityCVE-2024-26897

    30-day exploitation probability 0.2%

    first.org
  • NIST NVDVulnerability recordCVE-2024-26897

    In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: wifi: ath9k: delay all of ath9k_wmi_event_tasklet() until init is complete The ath9k_wmi_event_tasklet() used in ath9k_htc assumes that all the data structures have been fully initialised by the time it runs. H

    nvd.nist.gov

References

CVE-2024-26897 · ZeroDay Findings