[PATCH v5 4/5] staging: rtl8723bs: fix out-of-bounds reads in IE parsing functions

Delene Tchio Romuald
2026-04-17T03:03:03Z

rtw_get_wapi_ie(), rtw_get_sec_ie() and rtw_get_wps_ie() walk a
buffer of Information Elements using the TLV length field without
first verifying that the length byte itself is inside the buffer,
and without verifying that the specific bytes dereferenced by the
subsequent memcmp() calls fit inside the declared element.

An attacker within WiFi radio range can exploit this by sending
crafted beacon or probe-response frames carrying truncated or
oversized IEs. No authentication is required.

Ensure the length byte is inside the buffer (cnt + 1 < in_len),
break out of the loop if the declared element length would read
past in_len, and before each memcmp() verify that the offsets it
touches are inside the buffer: cnt + 10 for the WAPI OUI compared
at offset 6, and cnt + 6 for the WPA/WPS OUIs compared at offset 2.

Found by reviewing bounds checks in IE walkers.
Not tested on hardware.

Fixes: 554c0a3abf216 ("staging: Add rtl8723bs sdio wifi driver")
Cc: stable@vger.kernel.org
Signed-off-by: Delene Tchio Romuald <delenetchior1@gmail.com>
---
v5: add an inner bound check before each memcmp() so that the
OUI read at offset 6 (WAPI) or offset 2 (WPA/WPS) stays
inside the declared element (Dan Carpenter).
v4: add Fixes: tag and Cc: stable (Dan Carpenter).
v3: rebased on staging-next; sent as numbered series with
proper Cc from get_maintainer.pl.
v2: rebased on staging-next (v1 was based on v7.0-rc6 and did
not apply).

.../staging/rtl8723bs/core/rtw_ieee80211.c | 70 +++++++++++++------
1 file changed, 47 insertions(+), 23 deletions(-)

diff --git a/drivers/staging/rtl8723bs/core/rtw_ieee80211.c b/drivers/staging/rtl8723bs/core/rtw_ieee80211.c
index 72b7f731dd471..1b61879acb48e 100644
--- a/drivers/staging/rtl8723bs/core/rtw_ieee80211.c
+++ b/drivers/staging/rtl8723bs/core/rtw_ieee80211.c
@@ -582,18 +582,25 @@ int rtw_get_wapi_ie(u8 *in_ie, uint in_len, u8 *wapi_ie, u16 *wapi_len)

cnt = (_TIMESTAMP_ + _BEACON_ITERVAL_ + _CAPABILITY_);

- while (cnt < in_len) {
+ while (cnt + 1 < in_len) {
authmode = in_ie[cnt];

- if (authmode == WLAN_EID_BSS_AC_ACCESS_DELAY &&
- (!memcmp(&in_ie[cnt + 6], wapi_oui1, 4) ||
- !memcmp(&in_ie[cnt + 6], wapi_oui2, 4))) {
- if (wapi_ie)
- memcpy(wapi_ie, &in_ie[cnt], in_ie[cnt + 1] + 2);
+ if (cnt + 2 + in_ie[cnt + 1] > in_len)
+ break;
+
+ if (authmode == WLAN_EID_BSS_AC_ACCESS_DELAY) {
+ if (cnt + 10 > in_len)
+ break;

- if (wapi_len)
- *wapi_len = in_ie[cnt + 1] + 2;
+ if (!memcmp(&in_ie[cnt + 6], wapi_oui1, 4) ||
+ !memcmp(&in_ie[cnt + 6], wapi_oui2, 4)) {
+ if (wapi_ie)
+ memcpy(wapi_ie, &in_ie[cnt],
+ in_ie[cnt + 1] + 2);

+ if (wapi_len)
+ *wapi_len = in_ie[cnt + 1] + 2;
+ }
}

cnt += in_ie[cnt + 1] + 2; /* get next */
@@ -615,15 +622,23 @@ void rtw_get_sec_ie(u8 *in_ie, uint in_len, u8 *rsn_ie, u16 *rsn_len, u8 *wpa_ie

cnt = (_TIMESTAMP_ + _BEACON_ITERVAL_ + _CAPABILITY_);

- while (cnt < in_len) {
+ while (cnt + 1 < in_len) {
authmode = in_ie[cnt];

- if ((authmode == WLAN_EID_VENDOR_SPECIFIC) &&
- (!memcmp(&in_ie[cnt + 2], &wpa_oui[0], 4))) {
- if (wpa_ie)
- memcpy(wpa_ie, &in_ie[cnt], in_ie[cnt + 1] + 2);
+ if (cnt + 2 + in_ie[cnt + 1] > in_len)
+ break;
+
+ if (authmode == WLAN_EID_VENDOR_SPECIFIC) {
+ if (cnt + 6 > in_len)
+ break;
+
+ if (!memcmp(&in_ie[cnt + 2], &wpa_oui[0], 4)) {
+ if (wpa_ie)
+ memcpy(wpa_ie, &in_ie[cnt],
+ in_ie[cnt + 1] + 2);

- *wpa_len = in_ie[cnt + 1] + 2;
+ *wpa_len = in_ie[cnt + 1] + 2;
+ }
} else if (authmode == WLAN_EID_RSN) {
if (rsn_ie)
memcpy(rsn_ie, &in_ie[cnt], in_ie[cnt + 1] + 2);
@@ -658,21 +673,30 @@ u8 *rtw_get_wps_ie(u8 *in_ie, uint in_len, u8 *wps_ie, uint *wps_ielen)

cnt = 0;

- while (cnt < in_len) {
+ while (cnt + 1 < in_len) {
eid = in_ie[cnt];

- if ((eid == WLAN_EID_VENDOR_SPECIFIC) && (!memcmp(&in_ie[cnt + 2], wps_oui, 4))) {
- wpsie_ptr = &in_ie[cnt];
+ if (cnt + 2 + in_ie[cnt + 1] > in_len)
+ break;

- if (wps_ie)
- memcpy(wps_ie, &in_ie[cnt], in_ie[cnt + 1] + 2);
+ if (eid == WLAN_EID_VENDOR_SPECIFIC) {
+ if (cnt + 6 > in_len)
+ break;

- if (wps_ielen)
- *wps_ielen = in_ie[cnt + 1] + 2;
+ if (!memcmp(&in_ie[cnt + 2], wps_oui, 4)) {
+ wpsie_ptr = &in_ie[cnt];

- cnt += in_ie[cnt + 1] + 2;
+ if (wps_ie)
+ memcpy(wps_ie, &in_ie[cnt],
+ in_ie[cnt + 1] + 2);

- break;
+ if (wps_ielen)
+ *wps_ielen = in_ie[cnt + 1] + 2;
+
+ cnt += in_ie[cnt + 1] + 2;
+
+ break;
+ }
}
cnt += in_ie[cnt + 1] + 2; /* goto next */
}
--
2.43.0