{"id":"CVE-2023-53321","state":"PUBLISHED","title":"wifi: mac80211_hwsim: drop short frames","description":"In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\nwifi: mac80211_hwsim: drop short frames\n\nWhile technically some control frames like ACK are shorter and\nend after Address 1, such frames shouldn't be forwarded through\nwmediumd or similar userspace, so require the full 3-address\nheader to avoid accessing invalid memory if shorter frames are\npassed in.","publishedAt":"2025-09-16T16:11:57.206Z","updatedAt":"2026-08-05T09:13:30.113Z","severity":{"score":7.1,"label":"High","version":"3.1","vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:H","source":"Linux"},"assigner":"Linux","products":["Linux Linux"],"affected":[{"vendor":"Linux","product":"Linux","defaultStatus":"unaffected","versions":[{"version":"05d610af3e71a782fa28a1351b687da982d208ee","status":"affected","lessThan":"3beb97bed860d95b14ad23578ce8ddaea62023db","versionType":"git"},{"version":"05d610af3e71a782fa28a1351b687da982d208ee","status":"affected","lessThan":"672205c6f2d11978fcd7f0f336bb2c708e28874b","versionType":"git"},{"version":"05d610af3e71a782fa28a1351b687da982d208ee","status":"affected","lessThan":"c64ee9dd335832d5e2ab0a8fc83a34ad4c729799","versionType":"git"},{"version":"05d610af3e71a782fa28a1351b687da982d208ee","status":"affected","lessThan":"b9a175e3b250b0dc6e152988040aa5014e98e61e","versionType":"git"},{"version":"05d610af3e71a782fa28a1351b687da982d208ee","status":"affected","lessThan":"89a41ed7f21476301659ebd25ccb48a60791c1a7","versionType":"git"},{"version":"05d610af3e71a782fa28a1351b687da982d208ee","status":"affected","lessThan":"fba360a047d5eeeb9d4b7c3a9b1c8308980ce9a6","versionType":"git"}],"repo":"https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git","programFiles":["drivers/net/wireless/virtual/mac80211_hwsim.c"]},{"vendor":"Linux","product":"Linux","defaultStatus":"affected","versions":[{"version":"5.4","status":"affected"},{"version":"0","status":"unaffected","lessThan":"5.4","versionType":"semver"},{"version":"5.4.257","status":"unaffected","lessThanOrEqual":"5.4.*","versionType":"semver"},{"version":"5.10.197","status":"unaffected","lessThanOrEqual":"5.10.*","versionType":"semver"},{"version":"5.15.133","status":"unaffected","lessThanOrEqual":"5.15.*","versionType":"semver"},{"version":"6.1.55","status":"unaffected","lessThanOrEqual":"6.1.*","versionType":"semver"},{"version":"6.5.5","status":"unaffected","lessThanOrEqual":"6.5.*","versionType":"semver"},{"version":"6.6","status":"unaffected","lessThanOrEqual":"*","versionType":"original_commit_for_fix"}],"repo":"https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git","programFiles":["drivers/net/wireless/virtual/mac80211_hwsim.c"]}],"references":["https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/3beb97bed860d95b14ad23578ce8ddaea62023db","https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/672205c6f2d11978fcd7f0f336bb2c708e28874b","https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/c64ee9dd335832d5e2ab0a8fc83a34ad4c729799","https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/b9a175e3b250b0dc6e152988040aa5014e98e61e","https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/89a41ed7f21476301659ebd25ccb48a60791c1a7","https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/fba360a047d5eeeb9d4b7c3a9b1c8308980ce9a6"],"weaknesses":[],"ingestedAt":"2026-10-29T20:06:33.064Z","source":{"repository":"CVEProject/cvelistV5","path":"cves/2023/53xxx/CVE-2023-53321.json","commit":"556c9d3a8cd17e218bb8e452ba7cd619a384ff47"},"raw":{"dataType":"CVE_RECORD","dataVersion":"5.2","cveMetadata":{"cveId":"CVE-2023-53321","state":"PUBLISHED","datePublished":"2025-09-16T16:11:57.206Z","dateUpdated":"2026-08-05T09:13:30.113Z","assignerShortName":"Linux","assignerOrgId":"416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67","dateReserved":"2025-09-16T16:08:59.563Z"},"containers":{"cna":{"title":"wifi: mac80211_hwsim: drop short frames","descriptions":[{"lang":"en","value":"In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\nwifi: mac80211_hwsim: drop short frames\n\nWhile technically some control frames like ACK are shorter and\nend after Address 1, such frames shouldn't be forwarded through\nwmediumd or similar userspace, so require the full 3-address\nheader to avoid accessing invalid memory if shorter frames are\npassed 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- The bug is reached via the MAC80211_HWSIM generic netlink HWSIM_CMD_FRAME command (sendmsg on a local genetlink socket into hwsim_cloned_frame_received_nl), not via on-air Wi‑Fi frames or a remote network protocol; virtio is an alternate local/VM-test path, still not Network/Adjacent.\nAC:L - Once the attacker is the registered wmediumd for a radio (or virtio mode is enabled), they fully control HWSIM_ATTR_FRAME length and can reliably send a frame shorter than sizeof(struct ieee80211_hdr_3addr) with no race or other attacker-uncontrollable condition.\nPR:L - HWSIM_CMD_FRAME itself has no genl capability flag, but injecting frames requires being the registered wmediumd; HWSIM_CMD_REGISTER (and NEW_RADIO) use GENL_UNS_ADMIN_PERM, which is CAP_NET_ADMIN in the caller's user_ns and is obtainable by an unprivileged user via user+net namespaces.\nUI:N - The attacker triggers the path entirely with their own netlink REGISTER/NEW_RADIO and FRAME messages; no separate victim action is required.\nS:U - The invalid read and any resulting fault stay inside the host kernel mac80211_hwsim/mac80211 authority and do not cross a VM, IOMMU, or sandbox boundary on the primary netlink attack path.\nC:H - Short frames cause mac80211_hwsim_rx to read hdr->addr1/addr2 past the copied skb payload into uninitialized/out-of-bounds skb-head heap memory (KMSAN uninit-value), which is an OOB read of kernel memory and scores Confidentiality High under the OOB-read guidance.\nI:N - The defect is a read of uninitialized/past-end frame header bytes only; there is no OOB write, UAF, or other integrity or control-flow corruption primitive, and mac80211 later length-checks before further parsing.\nA:H - Accessing past the valid frame data into invalid skb memory can produce a kernel fault/oops under memory debugging or tight allocations (as reflected by the sanitizer finding that motivated the fix), so Availability is scored High."}]}],"providerMetadata":{"shortName":"Linux","orgId":"416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67","dateUpdated":"2026-08-05T09:13:30.113Z"},"cpeApplicability":[{"nodes":[{"operator":"OR","negate":false,"cpeMatch":[{"vulnerable":true,"criteria":"cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*","versionStartIncluding":"5.4","versionEndExcluding":"5.4.257"},{"vulnerable":true,"criteria":"cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*","versionStartIncluding":"5.4","versionEndExcluding":"5.10.197"},{"vulnerable":true,"criteria":"cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*","versionStartIncluding":"5.4","versionEndExcluding":"5.15.133"},{"vulnerable":true,"criteria":"cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*","versionStartIncluding":"5.4","versionEndExcluding":"6.1.55"},{"vulnerable":true,"criteria":"cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*","versionStartIncluding":"5.4","versionEndExcluding":"6.5.5"},{"vulnerable":true,"criteria":"cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*","versionStartIncluding":"5.4","versionEndExcluding":"6.6"}]}]}],"x_generator":{"engine":"bippy-1.2.0"}},"adp":[{"title":"CISA ADP Vulnrichment","metrics":[{"cvssV3_1":{"scope":"UNCHANGED","version":"3.1","baseScore":7.1,"attackVector":"LOCAL","baseSeverity":"HIGH","vectorString":"CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:H","integrityImpact":"NONE","userInteraction":"NONE","attackComplexity":"LOW","availabilityImpact":"HIGH","privilegesRequired":"LOW","confidentialityImpact":"HIGH"}},{"other":{"type":"ssvc","content":{"id":"CVE-2023-53321","role":"CISA Coordinator","options":[{"Exploitation":"none"},{"Automatable":"no"},{"Technical Impact":"partial"}],"version":"2.0.3","timestamp":"2026-01-14T18:27:28.261822Z"}}}],"problemTypes":[{"descriptions":[{"lang":"en","type":"CWE","description":"CWE-noinfo Not enough information"}]}],"providerMetadata":{"shortName":"CISA-ADP","orgId":"134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0","dateUpdated":"2026-01-14T18:32:58.479Z"}}]}}}