CVE-2022-50179: Linux Kernel

High severity, CVSS 7.8. EPSS: 0.3% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days.

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ath9k: fix use-after-free in ath9k_hif_usb_rx_cb Syzbot reported use-after-free Read in ath9k_hif_usb_rx_cb() [0]. The problem was in incorrect htc_handle->drv_priv initialization. Probable call trace which can trigger use-after-free: ath9k_htc_probe_device() /* htc_handle->drv_priv = priv; */ ath9k_htc_wait_for_target() <--- Failed ieee80211_free_hw() <--- priv pointer is freed <IRQ> ... ath9k_hif_usb_rx_cb() ath9k_hif_usb_rx_stream() RX_STAT_INC() <--- htc_handle->drv_priv access In order to not add fancy protection for drv_priv we can move htc_handle->drv_priv initialization at the end of the ath9k_htc_probe_device() and add helper macro to make all *_STAT_* macros NULL safe, since syzbot has reported related NULL deref in that macros [1]

Affected products

• Linux Linux Kernel: from 2.6.35, before 4.14.291 (fixed in 4.14.291); from 4.15, before 4.19.256 (fixed in 4.19.256); from 4.20, before 5.4.211 (fixed in 5.4.211); from 5.5, before 5.10.137 (fixed in 5.10.137); from 5.11, before 5.15.61 (fixed in 5.15.61); from 5.16, before 5.18.18 (fixed in 5.18.18); …

Published 2025-06-18. Last modified 2026-06-17.