CVE-2019-9500: Broadcom brcmfmac driver is vulnerable to a heap buffer overflow

Severity: high (CVSS 8.3 v3.1)
Exploited in the wild: not listed in CISA KEV
EPSS: 3.9% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days
Public exploit or detection template: yes
Published: 2020-01-16 · updated 2026-06-17
Weakness: CWE-122

Description

The Broadcom brcmfmac WiFi driver prior to commit 1b5e2423164b3670e8bc9174e4762d297990deff is vulnerable to a heap buffer overflow. If the Wake-up on Wireless LAN functionality is configured, a malicious event frame can be constructed to trigger an heap buffer overflow in the brcmf_wowl_nd_results function. This vulnerability can be exploited with compromised chipsets to compromise the host, or when used in combination with CVE-2019-9503, can be used remotely. In the worst case scenario, by sending specially-crafted WiFi packets, a remote, unauthenticated attacker may be able to execute arbitrary code on a vulnerable system. More typically, this vulnerability will result in denial-of-service conditions.

Affected products

Broadcom Brcmfmac Driver: all versions
Linux kernel: from 4.5 before 4.9.181; from 4.10 before 4.14.123; from 4.15 before 4.19.47; from 4.20 before 5.0.20 — fixed in 4.14.123, 4.19.47, 4.9.181, 5.0.20

How to fix

Upgrade to a fixed version: Linux kernel 4.14.123, 4.19.47, 4.9.181, 5.0.20. Check the vendor advisory for mitigations.

References

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