CVE-2022-23088: 802.11 heap buffer overflow

Severity: critical (CVSS 9.8 v3.1)
Exploited in the wild: not listed in CISA KEV
EPSS: 3.6% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days
Public exploit or detection template: none known
Published: 2024-02-15 · updated 2026-06-17
Weakness: CWE-94

Description

The 802.11 beacon handling routine failed to validate the length of an IEEE 802.11s Mesh ID before copying it to a heap-allocated buffer. While a FreeBSD Wi-Fi client is in scanning mode (i.e., not associated with a SSID) a malicious beacon frame may overwrite kernel memory, leading to remote code execution.

Affected products

FreeBSD: before 12.3; from 12.4 before 13.0; 12.3-p1, 12.3-p2, 12.3-p3, 12.3-p4, 13.0-beta1, 13.0-beta2 (+21) — fixed in 12.3, 13.0

How to fix

Upgrade to a fixed version: FreeBSD 12.3, 13.0. Check the vendor advisory for mitigations.

References

https://security.freebsd.org/advisories/FreeBSD-SA-22:07.wifi_meshid.asc
https://security.freebsd.org/advisories/FreeBSD-SA-22:07.wifi_meshid.asc

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