Linux Kernel up to 6.0.15/6.1.1 wifi ap_mld_addr null pointer dereference

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel up to 6.0.15/6.1.1 and classified as critical. Affected is the function ap_mld_addr of the component wifi. Executing a manipulation can lead to null pointer dereference. This vulnerability is handled as CVE-2022-50533. It is possible to launch the attack on the local host. There is not any exploit available. It is suggested to upgrade the affected component.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel up to 6.0.15/6.1.1. It has been declared as critical. This vulnerability affects the function ap_mld_addr of the component wifi. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a null pointer dereference vulnerability. The CWE definition for the vulnerability is CWE-476. A NULL pointer dereference occurs when the application dereferences a pointer that it expects to be valid, but is NULL, typically causing a crash or exit. As an impact it is known to affect availability. CVE summarizes:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: wifi: mac80211: mlme: fix null-ptr deref on failed assoc If association to an AP without a link 0 fails, then we crash in tracing because it assumes that either ap_mld_addr or link 0 BSS is valid, since we clear sdata->vif.valid_links and then don't add the ap_mld_addr to the struct. Since we clear also sdata->vif.cfg.ap_addr, keep a local copy of it and assign it earlier, before clearing valid_links, to fix this.

The advisory is shared for download at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability was named CVE-2022-50533 since 10/07/2025. The exploitation appears to be easy. The attack needs to be approached locally. There are known technical details, but no exploit is available.

Upgrading to version 6.0.16 or 6.1.2 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch c695dfba8dfb82dc7ace4f22be088916cbf621ca/bb7743955a929e44b308cc3f63f8cc03873c1bee/78a6a43aaf87180ec7425a2a90468e1b4d09a1ec is able to eliminate this problem. The bugfix is ready for download at git.kernel.org. The best possible mitigation is suggested to be upgrading to the latest version.

The vulnerability is also documented in the vulnerability database at CERT Bund (WID-SEC-2025-2229). Once again VulDB remains the best source for vulnerability data.

Affected

• Debian Linux
• Amazon Linux 2
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux
• Ubuntu Linux
• SUSE Linux
• Oracle Linux
• RESF Rocky Linux
• Open Source Linux Kernel
• IBM QRadar SIEM
• Dell NetWorker

Productinfo

Type

• Operating System

Vendor

• Linux

Name

• Kernel

Version

• 6.0.0
• 6.0.1
• 6.0.2
• 6.0.3
• 6.0.4
• 6.0.5
• 6.0.6
• 6.0.7
• 6.0.8
• 6.0.9
• 6.0.10
• 6.0.11
• 6.0.12
• 6.0.13
• 6.0.14
• 6.0.15
• 6.1.0
• 6.1.1

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.kernel.org/

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