KASAN: slab-use-after-free Read in ath9k_hif_request_firmware (2)

Status: upstream: reported on 2026/06/22 12:15
Subsystems: wireless
Labels: prio:high
[Documentation on labels]
Reported-by: syzbot+cb7ed9d85261445a0201@syzkaller.appspotmail.com
First crash: 49d, last: 37d
▶ ▼ ✨ AI Jobs (1)
ID Workflow Result Correct Bug Created Started Finished Revision
917206ea assessment-security DenialOfService: ✅ Exploitable: ✅ FilesystemTrigger: ❌ NetworkTrigger: ❌ PeripheralTrigger: ✅ RemoteTrigger: ❌ Unprivileged: ❌ UserNamespace: ❌ VMGuestTrigger: ❌ VMHostTrigger: ❌ ❓ KASAN: slab-use-after-free Read in ath9k_hif_request_firmware (2) 2026/06/22 02:54 2026/06/22 02:54 2026/06/22 03:57 43bfcdb0
▶ ▼ Discussions (2)
Title Replies (including bot) Last reply
[PATCH] wifi: ath9k: avoid device access after async firmware request 3 (3) 2026/06/29 13:56
[syzbot] [wireless?] KASAN: slab-use-after-free Read in ath9k_hif_request_firmware (2) 0 (1) 2026/06/22 12:15
▶ ▼ Similar bugs (1)
Kernel Title Rank 🛈 Repro Cause bisect Fix bisect Count Last Reported Patched Status
upstream KASAN: slab-use-after-free Read in ath9k_hif_request_firmware wireless 19 1 616d 611d 0/29 auto-obsoleted due to no activity on 2025/03/10 17:45

Sample crash report:
==================================================================
BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in ath9k_hif_request_firmware+0x416/0x450 drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath9k/hif_usb.c:1219
Read of size 8 at addr ffff888053c45000 by task kworker/1:8/11284

CPU: 1 UID: 0 PID: 11284 Comm: kworker/1:8 Tainted: G             L      syzkaller #0 PREEMPT(full) 
Tainted: [L]=SOFTLOCKUP
Hardware name: Google Google Compute Engine/Google Compute Engine, BIOS Google 05/09/2026
Workqueue: events request_firmware_work_func
Call Trace:
 <TASK>
 __dump_stack lib/dump_stack.c:94 [inline]
 dump_stack_lvl+0x100/0x190 lib/dump_stack.c:120
 print_address_description mm/kasan/report.c:378 [inline]
 print_report+0x13d/0x4b0 mm/kasan/report.c:482
 kasan_report+0xdf/0x1c0 mm/kasan/report.c:595
 ath9k_hif_request_firmware+0x416/0x450 drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath9k/hif_usb.c:1219
 ath9k_hif_usb_firmware_cb+0x3f9/0x530 drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath9k/hif_usb.c:1237
 request_firmware_work_func+0x13f/0x440 drivers/base/firmware_loader/main.c:1164
 process_one_work+0xa23/0x1940 kernel/workqueue.c:3322
 process_scheduled_works kernel/workqueue.c:3405 [inline]
 worker_thread+0x5ef/0xe50 kernel/workqueue.c:3486
 kthread+0x370/0x450 kernel/kthread.c:436
 ret_from_fork+0x72b/0xd50 arch/x86/kernel/process.c:158
 ret_from_fork_asm+0x1a/0x30 arch/x86/entry/entry_64.S:245
 </TASK>

Allocated by task 11281:
 kasan_save_stack+0x30/0x50 mm/kasan/common.c:57
 kasan_save_track+0x14/0x30 mm/kasan/common.c:78
 poison_kmalloc_redzone mm/kasan/common.c:398 [inline]
 __kasan_kmalloc+0xaa/0xb0 mm/kasan/common.c:415
 _kmalloc_noprof include/linux/slab.h:969 [inline]
 _kzalloc_noprof include/linux/slab.h:1286 [inline]
 ath9k_hif_usb_probe+0x30e/0x830 drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath9k/hif_usb.c:1369
 usb_probe_interface+0x303/0x8f0 drivers/usb/core/driver.c:396
 call_driver_probe drivers/base/dd.c:628 [inline]
 really_probe+0x241/0xa60 drivers/base/dd.c:706
 __driver_probe_device+0x20e/0x450 drivers/base/dd.c:868
 driver_probe_device+0x4a/0x140 drivers/base/dd.c:898
 __device_attach_driver+0x1df/0x320 drivers/base/dd.c:1026
 bus_for_each_drv+0x159/0x1e0 drivers/base/bus.c:500
 __device_attach+0x1e4/0x4d0 drivers/base/dd.c:1098
 device_initial_probe+0xaf/0xd0 drivers/base/dd.c:1153
 bus_probe_device+0x64/0x160 drivers/base/bus.c:620
 device_add+0x121d/0x1970 drivers/base/core.c:3772
 usb_set_configuration+0xd97/0x1c60 drivers/usb/core/message.c:2268
 usb_generic_driver_probe+0xa1/0xe0 drivers/usb/core/generic.c:250
 usb_probe_device+0xef/0x400 drivers/usb/core/driver.c:291
 call_driver_probe drivers/base/dd.c:628 [inline]
 really_probe+0x241/0xa60 drivers/base/dd.c:706
 __driver_probe_device+0x20e/0x450 drivers/base/dd.c:868
 driver_probe_device+0x4a/0x140 drivers/base/dd.c:898
 __device_attach_driver+0x1df/0x320 drivers/base/dd.c:1026
 bus_for_each_drv+0x159/0x1e0 drivers/base/bus.c:500
 __device_attach+0x1e4/0x4d0 drivers/base/dd.c:1098
 device_initial_probe+0xaf/0xd0 drivers/base/dd.c:1153
 bus_probe_device+0x64/0x160 drivers/base/bus.c:620
 device_add+0x121d/0x1970 drivers/base/core.c:3772
 usb_new_device.cold+0x685/0x115c drivers/usb/core/hub.c:2695
 hub_port_connect drivers/usb/core/hub.c:5567 [inline]
 hub_port_connect_change drivers/usb/core/hub.c:5707 [inline]
 port_event drivers/usb/core/hub.c:5871 [inline]
 hub_event+0x314d/0x4af0 drivers/usb/core/hub.c:5953
 process_one_work+0xa23/0x1940 kernel/workqueue.c:3322
 process_scheduled_works kernel/workqueue.c:3405 [inline]
 worker_thread+0x5ef/0xe50 kernel/workqueue.c:3486
 kthread+0x370/0x450 kernel/kthread.c:436
 ret_from_fork+0x72b/0xd50 arch/x86/kernel/process.c:158
 ret_from_fork_asm+0x1a/0x30 arch/x86/entry/entry_64.S:245

Freed by task 5704:
 kasan_save_stack+0x30/0x50 mm/kasan/common.c:57
 kasan_save_track+0x14/0x30 mm/kasan/common.c:78
 kasan_save_free_info+0x3b/0x70 mm/kasan/generic.c:584
 poison_slab_object mm/kasan/common.c:253 [inline]
 __kasan_slab_free+0x5f/0x80 mm/kasan/common.c:285
 kasan_slab_free include/linux/kasan.h:235 [inline]
 slab_free_hook mm/slub.c:2700 [inline]
 slab_free mm/slub.c:6310 [inline]
 kfree+0x22b/0x6c0 mm/slub.c:6625
 ath9k_hif_usb_disconnect+0x207/0x3c0 drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath9k/hif_usb.c:1439
 usb_unbind_interface+0x1dd/0x9e0 drivers/usb/core/driver.c:458
 device_remove drivers/base/dd.c:618 [inline]
 device_remove+0x12a/0x180 drivers/base/dd.c:610
 __device_release_driver drivers/base/dd.c:1349 [inline]
 device_release_driver_internal+0x44e/0x620 drivers/base/dd.c:1372
 bus_remove_device+0x2bc/0x560 drivers/base/bus.c:664
 device_del+0x376/0x9b0 drivers/base/core.c:3961
 usb_disable_device+0x367/0x810 drivers/usb/core/message.c:1478
 usb_disconnect+0x2e2/0x9a0 drivers/usb/core/hub.c:2345
 hub_port_connect drivers/usb/core/hub.c:5407 [inline]
 hub_port_connect_change drivers/usb/core/hub.c:5707 [inline]
 port_event drivers/usb/core/hub.c:5871 [inline]
 hub_event+0x1d0c/0x4af0 drivers/usb/core/hub.c:5953
 process_one_work+0xa23/0x1940 kernel/workqueue.c:3322
 process_scheduled_works kernel/workqueue.c:3405 [inline]
 worker_thread+0x5ef/0xe50 kernel/workqueue.c:3486
 kthread+0x370/0x450 kernel/kthread.c:436
 ret_from_fork+0x72b/0xd50 arch/x86/kernel/process.c:158
 ret_from_fork_asm+0x1a/0x30 arch/x86/entry/entry_64.S:245

The buggy address belongs to the object at ffff888053c45000
 which belongs to the cache kmalloc-2k of size 2048
The buggy address is located 0 bytes inside of
 freed 2048-byte region [ffff888053c45000, ffff888053c45800)

The buggy address belongs to the physical page:
page: refcount:0 mapcount:0 mapping:0000000000000000 index:0x0 pfn:0x53c40
head: order:3 mapcount:0 entire_mapcount:0 nr_pages_mapped:0 pincount:0
flags: 0xfff00000000040(head|node=0|zone=1|lastcpupid=0x7ff)
page_type: f5(slab)
raw: 00fff00000000040 ffff88813fe40000 dead000000000100 dead000000000122
raw: 0000000000000000 0000000800080008 00000000f5000000 0000000000000000
head: 00fff00000000040 ffff88813fe40000 dead000000000100 dead000000000122
head: 0000000000000000 0000000800080008 00000000f5000000 0000000000000000
head: 00fff00000000003 fffffffffffffe01 00000000ffffffff 00000000ffffffff
head: ffffffffffffffff 0000000000000000 00000000ffffffff 0000000000000008
page dumped because: kasan: bad access detected
page_owner tracks the page as allocated
page last allocated via order 3, migratetype Unmovable, gfp_mask 0xd20c0(__GFP_IO|__GFP_FS|__GFP_NOWARN|__GFP_NORETRY|__GFP_COMP|__GFP_NOMEMALLOC), pid 4965, tgid 4965 (klogd), ts 316220316300, free_ts 316211784975
 set_page_owner include/linux/page_owner.h:32 [inline]
 post_alloc_hook+0xfd/0x120 mm/page_alloc.c:1859
 prep_new_page mm/page_alloc.c:1867 [inline]
 get_page_from_freelist+0xf48/0x3530 mm/page_alloc.c:3946
 __alloc_frozen_pages_noprof+0x299/0x2dc0 mm/page_alloc.c:5304
 alloc_slab_page mm/slub.c:3289 [inline]
 allocate_slab mm/slub.c:3404 [inline]
 new_slab+0xa2/0x670 mm/slub.c:3447
 refill_objects+0xe3/0x430 mm/slub.c:7241
 refill_sheaf mm/slub.c:2827 [inline]
 __pcs_replace_empty_main+0x375/0x660 mm/slub.c:4692
 alloc_from_pcs mm/slub.c:4790 [inline]
 slab_alloc_node mm/slub.c:4924 [inline]
 __kmalloc_cache_noprof+0x48d/0x6e0 mm/slub.c:5446
 _kmalloc_noprof include/linux/slab.h:969 [inline]
 syslog_print+0xf8/0x620 kernel/printk/printk.c:1585
 do_syslog+0x5bd/0x6d0 kernel/printk/printk.c:1763
 __do_sys_syslog kernel/printk/printk.c:1855 [inline]
 __se_sys_syslog kernel/printk/printk.c:1853 [inline]
 __x64_sys_syslog+0x74/0xb0 kernel/printk/printk.c:1853
 do_syscall_x64 arch/x86/entry/syscall_64.c:63 [inline]
 do_syscall_64+0x115/0x870 arch/x86/entry/syscall_64.c:94
 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x77/0x7f
page last free pid 11284 tgid 11284 stack trace:
 reset_page_owner include/linux/page_owner.h:25 [inline]
 __free_pages_prepare mm/page_alloc.c:1406 [inline]
 free_pages_prepare+0x586/0xd80 mm/page_alloc.c:1451
 __free_contig_range_common+0x14f/0x250 mm/page_alloc.c:6895
 __free_contig_range mm/page_alloc.c:6940 [inline]
 free_pages_bulk+0x12a/0x200 mm/page_alloc.c:5257
 vm_area_free_pages+0xad/0x2b0 mm/vmalloc.c:3439
 vfree mm/vmalloc.c:3488 [inline]
 vfree+0x107/0x750 mm/vmalloc.c:3462
 delayed_vfree_work+0x56/0x80 mm/vmalloc.c:3392
 process_one_work+0xa23/0x1940 kernel/workqueue.c:3322
 process_scheduled_works kernel/workqueue.c:3405 [inline]
 worker_thread+0x5ef/0xe50 kernel/workqueue.c:3486
 kthread+0x370/0x450 kernel/kthread.c:436
 ret_from_fork+0x72b/0xd50 arch/x86/kernel/process.c:158
 ret_from_fork_asm+0x1a/0x30 arch/x86/entry/entry_64.S:245

Memory state around the buggy address:
 ffff888053c44f00: fc fc fc fc fc fc fc fc fc fc fc fc fc fc fc fc
 ffff888053c44f80: fc fc fc fc fc fc fc fc fc fc fc fc fc fc fc fc
>ffff888053c45000: fa fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb
                   ^
 ffff888053c45080: fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb
 ffff888053c45100: fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb
==================================================================

Crashes (2):
Time Kernel Commit Syzkaller Config Log Report Syz repro C repro VM info Assets (help?) Manager Title
2026/06/20 09:26 upstream 1a3746ccbb0a 43bfcdb0 .config console log report info [disk image] [vmlinux] [kernel image] ci-upstream-kasan-gce-selinux-root KASAN: slab-use-after-free Read in ath9k_hif_request_firmware
2026/07/02 17:33 upstream 4a50a141f05a 2b70b115 .config console log report info [disk image (non-bootable)] [vmlinux] [kernel image] ci-qemu-upstream KASAN: slab-use-after-free Read in ath9k_hif_request_firmware
* Struck through repros no longer work on HEAD.