[PATCH v5 2/5] staging: rtl8723bs: fix integer underflow in TKIP MIC verification

From: Delene Tchio Romuald

Date: Thu Apr 16 2026 - 23:03:45 EST


In recvframe_chkmic(), the payload length is computed as:

datalen = precvframe->u.hdr.len - prxattrib->hdrlen
- prxattrib->iv_len - prxattrib->icv_len - 8;

All operands are unsigned. If the receive frame is shorter than the
sum of the header, IV, ICV and MIC sizes, this subtraction wraps
around and datalen becomes a huge unsigned value. That value is then
passed to rtw_secmicappend(), which reads past the end of the
receive buffer and can leak kernel memory or trigger a crash.

An attacker within WiFi radio range can exploit this by sending a
crafted short TKIP-encrypted frame. No authentication is required.

Validate that the frame is large enough for the TKIP MIC
computation before the subtraction.

Found by reviewing length arithmetic in the TKIP receive path.
Not tested on hardware.

Fixes: 554c0a3abf216 ("staging: Add rtl8723bs sdio wifi driver")
Cc: stable@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Reviewed-by: Luka Gejak <luka.gejak@xxxxxxxxx>
Signed-off-by: Delene Tchio Romuald <delenetchior1@xxxxxxxxx>
---
v5: unchanged; carry Luka Gejak's Reviewed-by.
v4: add Fixes: tag and Cc: stable (Dan Carpenter); carry
Luka Gejak's Reviewed-by.
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).

drivers/staging/rtl8723bs/core/rtw_recv.c | 7 +++++++
1 file changed, 7 insertions(+)

diff --git a/drivers/staging/rtl8723bs/core/rtw_recv.c b/drivers/staging/rtl8723bs/core/rtw_recv.c
index 52d029c28ab1f..40884788a30d6 100644
--- a/drivers/staging/rtl8723bs/core/rtw_recv.c
+++ b/drivers/staging/rtl8723bs/core/rtw_recv.c
@@ -390,6 +390,13 @@ static signed int recvframe_chkmic(struct adapter *adapter, union recv_frame *p
mickey = &stainfo->dot11tkiprxmickey.skey[0];
}

+ /* Ensure the frame is large enough for TKIP MIC verification */
+ if (precvframe->u.hdr.len <= prxattrib->hdrlen +
+ prxattrib->iv_len + prxattrib->icv_len + 8) {
+ res = _FAIL;
+ goto exit;
+ }
+
datalen = precvframe->u.hdr.len - prxattrib->hdrlen - prxattrib->iv_len - prxattrib->icv_len - 8;/* icv_len included the mic code */
pframe = precvframe->u.hdr.rx_data;
payload = pframe + prxattrib->hdrlen + prxattrib->iv_len;
--
2.43.0