Linux kernel ath12k driver deadlock during mgmt frame flush
CVE-2026-23130 Published on February 14, 2026
wifi: ath12k: fix dead lock while flushing management frames
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
wifi: ath12k: fix dead lock while flushing management frames
Commit [1] converted the management transmission work item into a
wiphy work. Since a wiphy work can only run under wiphy lock
protection, a race condition happens in below scenario:
1. a management frame is queued for transmission.
2. ath12k_mac_op_flush() gets called to flush pending frames associated
with the hardware (i.e, vif being NULL). Then in ath12k_mac_flush()
the process waits for the transmission done.
3. Since wiphy lock has been taken by the flush process, the transmission
work item has no chance to run, hence the dead lock.
>From user view, this dead lock results in below issue:
wlp8s0: authenticate with xxxxxx (local address=xxxxxx)
wlp8s0: send auth to xxxxxx (try 1/3)
wlp8s0: authenticate with xxxxxx (local address=xxxxxx)
wlp8s0: send auth to xxxxxx (try 1/3)
wlp8s0: authenticated
wlp8s0: associate with xxxxxx (try 1/3)
wlp8s0: aborting association with xxxxxx by local choice (Reason: 3=DEAUTH_LEAVING)
ath12k_pci 0000:08:00.0: failed to flush mgmt transmit queue, mgmt pkts pending 1
The dead lock can be avoided by invoking wiphy_work_flush() to proactively
run the queued work item. Note actually it is already present in
ath12k_mac_op_flush(), however it does not protect the case where vif
being NULL. Hence move it ahead to cover this case as well.
Tested-on: WCN7850 hw2.0 PCI WLAN.HMT.1.1.c5-00302-QCAHMTSWPL_V1.0_V2.0_SILICONZ-1.115823.3
Products Associated with CVE-2026-23130
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Affected Versions
Linux:- Version 56dcbf0b520796e26b2bbe5686bdd305ad924954 and below 06ac2aa13f701a0296e92f5f54ae24224d426b28 is affected.
- Version 56dcbf0b520796e26b2bbe5686bdd305ad924954 and below f88e9fc30a261d63946ddc6cc6a33405e6aa27c3 is affected.
- Version 6.14 is affected.
- Before 6.14 is unaffected.
- Version 6.18.8, <= 6.18.* is unaffected.
- Version 6.19, <= * is unaffected.
Exploit Probability
EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) scores estimate the probability that a vulnerability will be exploited in the wild within the next 30 days. The percentile shows you how this score compares to all other vulnerabilities.