Ar9380 FirmwareOperating system · Qualcomm

CVE-2022-33279

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-02-12
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
Memory corruption due to stack based buffer overflow in WLAN having invalid WNM frame length.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · moderate confidence

A stack-based buffer overflow vulnerability exists in the WLAN component's WNM (Wireless Network Management) frame processing. When handling an invalid WNM frame with a malformed length field, the vulnerability allows memory corruption due to insufficient bounds checking before copying data onto the stack. This can be exploited remotely via specially crafted wireless frames.

MitigationApply vendor-specific patches for affected WLAN firmware/driver components. Until a patch is available, consider network segmentation to limit exposure of affected wireless devices and disable WNM features if not required.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
Ar9380 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Csr8811 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Ipq4019 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Ipq4028 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Ipq4029 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Ipq5010 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Ipq5018 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Ipq5028 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify the wireless chipset model
    Check the hardware specifications, boot logs, or system files (e.g., lspci, lsusb, or device tree) to determine if the device uses one of the affected Qualcomm chipsets: Ar9380, Csr8811, Ipq4019, Ipq4028, Ipq4029, Ipq5010, Ipq5018, or Ipq5028
    Affected if The device contains any of the listed Qualcomm chipsets (Ar9380, Csr8811, Ipq4019, Ipq4028, Ipq4029, Ipq5010, Ipq5018, Ipq5028)
  2. Verify WNM feature status
    Check the wireless interface configuration for WNM (Wireless Network Management) support. On Linux, use 'iw list' or 'iw dev <interface> info' to examine supported features and configurations. Look for 'WNM' or 'Wireless Network Management' in the output
    Affected if WNM features are listed as supported or enabled on the wireless interface
  3. Confirm WNM processing is active
    Examine running wireless interfaces and determine if they are operating in a mode (AP, mesh, or client) that processes incoming WNM frames. Check interface configuration files or use 'iwconfig' or 'ip link show' to confirm the interface is active and in a mode that accepts wireless management frames
    Affected if The wireless interface is active and configured to process 802.11 management frames including WNM
  4. Review firmware version
    Query the wireless firmware or driver version via system logs, debug interfaces, or vendor tools. Commands like 'dmesg | grep -i firmware', 'cat /sys/class/net/*/device/firmware_version', or vendor-specific utilities may reveal the installed firmware version
    Affected if The firmware version matches any of the affected Qualcomm chipsets listed, regardless of specific version number

A device is affected if it uses any of the listed Qualcomm chipsets (Ar9380, Csr8811, Ipq4019, Ipq4028, Ipq4029, Ipq5010, Ipq5018, Ipq5028) and has WNM feature processing enabled on its wireless interface.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

From vendor data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Apply vendor-specific patches for affected WLAN firmware/driver components. Until a patch is available, consider network segmentation to limit exposure of affected wireless devices and disable WNM features if not required.

Fix this in Ar9380 Firmware Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
21.0 hours of engineering $3,660
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Scan for this in your stack

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dbcve dependency scanner

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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2022-33279 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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