CVE-2023-53257: 
Linux Kernel vulnerability analysis and mitigation

A vulnerability in the Linux kernel's mac80211 wireless networking subsystem was discovered and disclosed on September 15, 2025. The vulnerability (CVE-2023-53257) affects the handling of S1G (802.11ah) action frames, where the system fails to verify the existence of an action code before processing it (NVD, Red Hat).

The vulnerability exists in the mac80211 subsystem's handling of 802.11ah (S1G) action frames. The issue occurs because the system attempts to check the action code before verifying that it exists in the frame. This implementation flaw affects Linux kernel systems where 802.11ah/S1G wireless networking is in use. The vulnerability has been assigned a CVSS v3.1 base score of 7.5 (High) with vector AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H (Red Hat).

The primary impact of this vulnerability is a potential denial-of-service condition through kernel crash. The vulnerability can be exploited by an RF-adjacent attacker, requiring no local privileges. However, the impact is limited to systems where 802.11ah/S1G wireless networking is actively in use (Red Hat).

As a temporary mitigation, systems administrators can prevent the mac80211 module from being loaded by blacklisting it. Red Hat provides guidance on blacklisting kernel modules at their solutions page. For a permanent fix, the vulnerability has been patched in various Linux distributions, including Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9.4 and Ubuntu 22.04 LTS (jammy) with version 5.15.0-94.104 (Red Hat, Ubuntu).