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Ubuntu Security Notice USN-5544-1 Atheros ath9k wireless device driver

40 points by LinuxBender 4y ago

mmmpetrichor 4y ago
I had an ath9k driver on my dell xps 13 9370 with ubuntu. Got kernel hangs once a week and ath9k in syslog was always the culprit. Never was able to fix it and many others were affected by the same thing. Switched to windows and still have occasional soft hangs, but its quickly resolved by closing and opening the lid. Dell going with a qualcomm wireless SoC is a major reason I would avoid buying from them again.
- sliken 4y ago
  Dell tweaks the hardware configs if you specify Linux when you purchase it, usually switching the wifi controller to Intel.
  - mmmpetrichor 4y ago
    I ordered the Linux dev edition with Linux pre-installed. I still got the ath9k unfortunately.
    - aidenn0 4y ago
      If it's on a mini-pcie card you may be able to swap.
      - mmmpetrichor 4y ago
        It's soldered in.
- nix0n 4y ago
  It sounds like this machine is in the past for you, but these cards are often user-replaceable. (I am not sure how to obtain the card though.)
  - vladvasiliu 4y ago
    You can buy them off Amazon. I did that to replace a wonky Realtek with an Intel.
- seestem 4y ago
  I am using an asus laptop with linux (5.10.0) and I have this problem. If I physically move the laptop the network manager crushes, the only way to resolve it is by rebooting. I have been told that if I downgrade my kernel it will resolve this issue.
- seba_dos1 4y ago
  For the record, WiFi chipset in Dell XPS 13 9380 (next gen than yours) used ath10k driver and the one in 7390 (two gens above) switched to iwlwifi. Dunno about newer ones.
lima 4y ago
Just in case anyone is wondering - this is a local privilege escalation issue, not a remotely exploitable wifi vulnerability. https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/cve-2022-1679 https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/cve-2022-1679
trasz 4y ago
So, why don’t we have a separate kernel (a VM really) handling WiFi hardware and perhaps some other network stuff? For a laptop the overhead shouldn’t matter match.
- aidenn0 4y ago
  Because that would take work; while you're at it why not switch to a decent microkernel and run all of these buggy-as-hell drivers in their own services. I have devices which I have 99% of the time on the kernel blacklist but enable when I need them as the system won't stay up reliably for more than a day or two with them enabled.
- dtx1 4y ago
  Literally what qubes os does
- craftkiller 4y ago
  Thats what wifibox does on FreeBSD (though I believe the reason is more for drivers than for isolation): https://github.com/pgj/freebsd-wifibox https://github.com/pgj/freebsd-wifibox
aidenn0 4y ago
The only wifi devices that have not caused driver issuese for me on linux are the Intel ones. Realtek and Atheros drivers are so buggy it's crazy.
- pak9rabid 4y ago
  I believe that's because Atheros chipsets are intended more to operate in Master mode (e.g., as a wireless access point). For that, it's been pretty gd stable for me.
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
jwilk 4y ago
https://ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-5544-1 https://ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-5544-1 would be a better submission URL, IMO.
- mook 4y ago
  Given that this is the ath9k driver issue in particular, it should be https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2022-1679 https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2022-1679 dated May instead?
- Fnoord 4y ago
  Yes, we should refrain linking to Packetstorm. Also, it isn't Ubuntu specific. I looked into various sources and NIST's NVD had the most complete info [1]. In this specific case, better than Mitre. Though this could change. Its also a bug from May 2022. [1] https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-1679 https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-1679
marcodiego 4y ago
Ironically, I think, some purists choose ath9k because it does not depend on closed firmwares.
- shaky-carrousel 4y ago
  The ath9k purists will have their drivers fixed while the people relying on closed source drivers will be ignored as the company decided to stop maintaining the driver. How... ironic?
- CameronNemo 4y ago
  Yeah it is pretty crazy how no WiFi chipsets with open source firmware exist that operate on the 5 GHz band. And even the old WiFi 4 ath9k chips aren't really made anymore. If you want to use a fully open source WiFi stack, you max out at 150 Mbps!

40 points by LinuxBender 4y ago

I had an ath9k driver on my dell xps 13 9370 with ubuntu. Got kernel hangs once a week and ath9k in syslog was always the culprit. Never was able to fix it and many others were affected by the same thing. Switched to windows and still have occasional soft hangs, but its quickly resolved by closing and opening the lid. Dell going with a qualcomm wireless SoC is a major reason I would avoid buying from them again.

sliken 4y ago
Dell tweaks the hardware configs if you specify Linux when you purchase it, usually switching the wifi controller to Intel.
- mmmpetrichor 4y ago
  I ordered the Linux dev edition with Linux pre-installed. I still got the ath9k unfortunately.
  - aidenn0 4y ago
    If it's on a mini-pcie card you may be able to swap.
    - mmmpetrichor 4y ago
      It's soldered in.
nix0n 4y ago
It sounds like this machine is in the past for you, but these cards are often user-replaceable. (I am not sure how to obtain the card though.)
- vladvasiliu 4y ago
  You can buy them off Amazon. I did that to replace a wonky Realtek with an Intel.
seestem 4y ago
I am using an asus laptop with linux (5.10.0) and I have this problem. If I physically move the laptop the network manager crushes, the only way to resolve it is by rebooting. I have been told that if I downgrade my kernel it will resolve this issue.
seba_dos1 4y ago
For the record, WiFi chipset in Dell XPS 13 9380 (next gen than yours) used ath10k driver and the one in 7390 (two gens above) switched to iwlwifi. Dunno about newer ones.

lima 4y ago

Just in case anyone is wondering - this is a local privilege escalation issue, not a remotely exploitable wifi vulnerability. https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/cve-2022-1679 https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/cve-2022-1679

trasz 4y ago

So, why don’t we have a separate kernel (a VM really) handling WiFi hardware and perhaps some other network stuff? For a laptop the overhead shouldn’t matter match.

aidenn0 4y ago
Because that would take work; while you're at it why not switch to a decent microkernel and run all of these buggy-as-hell drivers in their own services. I have devices which I have 99% of the time on the kernel blacklist but enable when I need them as the system won't stay up reliably for more than a day or two with them enabled.
dtx1 4y ago
Literally what qubes os does
craftkiller 4y ago
Thats what wifibox does on FreeBSD (though I believe the reason is more for drivers than for isolation): https://github.com/pgj/freebsd-wifibox https://github.com/pgj/freebsd-wifibox

aidenn0 4y ago

The only wifi devices that have not caused driver issuese for me on linux are the Intel ones. Realtek and Atheros drivers are so buggy it's crazy.

pak9rabid 4y ago
I believe that's because Atheros chipsets are intended more to operate in Master mode (e.g., as a wireless access point). For that, it's been pretty gd stable for me.

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]

jwilk 4y ago

https://ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-5544-1 https://ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-5544-1 would be a better submission URL, IMO.

mook 4y ago
Given that this is the ath9k driver issue in particular, it should be https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2022-1679 https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2022-1679 dated May instead?
Fnoord 4y ago
Yes, we should refrain linking to Packetstorm. Also, it isn't Ubuntu specific. I looked into various sources and NIST's NVD had the most complete info [1]. In this specific case, better than Mitre. Though this could change. Its also a bug from May 2022. [1] https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-1679 https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-1679

marcodiego 4y ago

Ironically, I think, some purists choose ath9k because it does not depend on closed firmwares.

shaky-carrousel 4y ago
The ath9k purists will have their drivers fixed while the people relying on closed source drivers will be ignored as the company decided to stop maintaining the driver. How... ironic?
CameronNemo 4y ago
Yeah it is pretty crazy how no WiFi chipsets with open source firmware exist that operate on the 5 GHz band. And even the old WiFi 4 ath9k chips aren't really made anymore. If you want to use a fully open source WiFi stack, you max out at 150 Mbps!