Bug 2425074 (CVE-2023-54071)

Summary: CVE-2023-54071 kernel: wifi: rtw88: use work to update rate to avoid RCU warning
Product: [Other] Security Response Reporter: OSIDB Bzimport <bzimport>
Component: vulnerabilityAssignee: Product Security DevOps Team <prodsec-dev>
Status: NEW --- QA Contact:
Severity: medium Docs Contact:
Priority: medium    
Version: unspecifiedCC: rhel-process-autobot, watson-tool-maintainers
Target Milestone: ---Keywords: Security
Target Release: ---   
Hardware: All   
OS: Linux   
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Doc Text:
A flaw was identified in the Linux kernel’s rtw88 Wi-Fi driver (drivers/net/wireless/realtek/rtw88) where the ieee80211_ops::sta_rc_update callback was invoked within a Read-Copy-Update (RCU) read-side critical section without proper atomicity or deferral. The ieee80211_chan_bw_change() function holds an RCU read lock while calling into drv_sta_rc_update(), and under these conditions, the driver could perform work that may trigger a voluntary context switch inside the RCU protection region. This improper synchronization can lead to unpredictable kernel behavior, including WARN messages, instability in wireless operations, and potential denial-of-service scenarios.
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Description OSIDB Bzimport 2025-12-24 13:06:39 UTC 
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

wifi: rtw88: use work to update rate to avoid RCU warning

The ieee80211_ops::sta_rc_update must be atomic, because
ieee80211_chan_bw_change() holds rcu_read lock while calling
drv_sta_rc_update(), so create a work to do original things.

 Voluntary context switch within RCU read-side critical section!
 WARNING: CPU: 0 PID: 4621 at kernel/rcu/tree_plugin.h:318
 rcu_note_context_switch+0x571/0x5d0
 CPU: 0 PID: 4621 Comm: kworker/u16:2 Tainted: G        W  OE
 Workqueue: phy3 ieee80211_chswitch_work [mac80211]
 RIP: 0010:rcu_note_context_switch+0x571/0x5d0
 Call Trace:
  <TASK>
  __schedule+0xb0/0x1460
  ? __mod_timer+0x116/0x360
  schedule+0x5a/0xc0
  schedule_timeout+0x87/0x150
  ? trace_raw_output_tick_stop+0x60/0x60
  wait_for_completion_timeout+0x7b/0x140
  usb_start_wait_urb+0x82/0x160 [usbcore
  usb_control_msg+0xe3/0x140 [usbcore
  rtw_usb_read+0x88/0xe0 [rtw_usb
  rtw_usb_read8+0xf/0x10 [rtw_usb
  rtw_fw_send_h2c_command+0xa0/0x170 [rtw_core
  rtw_fw_send_ra_info+0xc9/0xf0 [rtw_core
  drv_sta_rc_update+0x7c/0x160 [mac80211
  ieee80211_chan_bw_change+0xfb/0x110 [mac80211
  ieee80211_change_chanctx+0x38/0x130 [mac80211
  ieee80211_vif_use_reserved_switch+0x34e/0x900 [mac80211
  ieee80211_link_use_reserved_context+0x88/0xe0 [mac80211
  ieee80211_chswitch_work+0x95/0x170 [mac80211
  process_one_work+0x201/0x410
  worker_thread+0x4a/0x3b0
  ? process_one_work+0x410/0x410
  kthread+0xe1/0x110
  ? kthread_complete_and_exit+0x20/0x20
  ret_from_fork+0x1f/0x30
  </TASK>
Comment 1 Alexander B 2025-12-25 04:28:14 UTC 
Upstream advisory:
https://lore.kernel.org/linux-cve-announce/2025122431-CVE-2023-54071-b4c6@gregkh/T