[CVE-2026-53101][MODERATE REGULAR] wifi: mt76: mt7921: fix potential deadlock in mt7921_roc_abort_sync [ Upstream

[AL-KERNEL <alkernel@kernelcve.org>]

CVE: CVE-2026-53101
Priority: MODERATE REGULAR
AL-KERNEL base severity: MODERATE
KPANIC flag: NO
Patch: wifi: mt76: mt7921: fix potential deadlock in mt7921_roc_abort_sync [ Upstream
Commit: 35180c772f5e11e2fa4d80d3dfd50906cb6d9646
Upstream patch: https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git/commit/?id=35180c772f5e11e2fa4d80d3dfd50906cb6d9646
Original CVE announcement: https://lore.kernel.org/linux-cve-announce/?q=CVE-2026-53101
Analysis date: Fri, 26 Jun 2026 14:33:06 -0400
ActionableScore: 2
ActionableScore lower bound: 0
Actionable bucket: Ordinary Moderate / Low-like, with manual review recommended only for adjacent Wi-Fi triggerability
Manual review required: YES

Summary:
A deadlock in mt7921 remain-on-channel abort handling can occur when `cancel_work_sync()` waits for `roc_work` while the same mt76 mutex is already held, causing a persistent Wi-Fi driver DoS under specific station removal timing.

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ABOUT THIS REPORT
======================================================================

The original Linux kernel CVE announcement for CVE-2026-53101 is available here:
https://lore.kernel.org/linux-cve-announce/?q=CVE-2026-53101

The original announcement does not normally provide a security severity
estimate, CVSS assessment, or enough information to determine whether the
reported kernel bug represents a practically relevant security issue.

This report was generated by AL-KERNEL, an AI-assisted Linux kernel
vulnerability analysis system developed by Alexander Larkin. It combines
an autonomous classifier with LLM-assisted technical analysis and a
separate ActionableScore mechanism.

The purpose of this report is to prioritize Linux kernel CVEs before
manual review, identify cases that require prompt investigation, and
support automatic closure of issues that are unlikely to have meaningful
security impact.

Published priority for this report: MODERATE REGULAR
Manual review required: YES

A detailed explanation of the methodology and priority rules is included
at the end of this message.

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AL-KERNEL CLASSIFICATION RESULT
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CVE-2026-53101	MODERATE	CHECK	Maybe valid. Check manually. Hints by AL-KERNEL: The best (paranoid) CVSS is 'AV:A/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H';CWE-667;*CWE-833;CWE-362;Other CVSS 'AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H';BEST CVSS score: '5.3';DESCR 'mt7921_roc_abort_sync can deadlock with roc_work because cancel_work_sync() may wait for roc_work while the caller already holds the same mt76 mutex needed by roc_work to finish. This can occur during station removal when the driver aborts remain on channel handling while roc_work is still active, causing both sides to block and preventing forward progress. For the CVSS the PR:N is used for the paranoid adjacent Wi-Fi scenario because a nearby peer may be able to influence station removal without privileges on the victim, but reliable triggering still depends on device state, ROC activity, and timing. The issue is not Internet reachable and is limited to systems using the mt7921 driver with affected Wi-Fi workflows. Impact is denial of service only through driver or system hang, with no evidence of UAF, OOB access, information disclosure, or privilege escalation.';YES REQUIRES MANUAL CHECK; ,and ActionableScore result is Ordinary Moderate / Low-like, with manual review recommended only for adjacent Wi-Fi triggerability (with actual score 1) 	MAYBE	REMOTE DEADLOCK DANGER INIT SIMPLEFIX NETWORK TEST  DECREASED_TO_MODERATE_REGULAR_FROM_MODERATE7_BASED_ON_GUESSCVSS_AND_CIANNH	-	-	checked

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ACTIONABLESCORE ANALYSIS
======================================================================

ActionableScore=2
ActionableScoreLower=0

## 1. ActionableScore

* Conservative score: 0
* Paranoid score: 2
* Final recommended bucket: **Ordinary Moderate / Low-like, with manual review recommended only for adjacent Wi-Fi triggerability**::

## 2. Signal breakdown

Paranoid scoring:

* Firmware-mediated or adjacent external influence: +1
  A nearby Wi-Fi peer may indirectly influence station removal or disconnect workflows, but this is not Internet reachable and not a normal remote packet parsing vulnerability.

* Reliable kernel crash / strong DoS: +1
  The bug is a real mutex/workqueue deadlock. If reached, progress can stop in the mt7921 remain-on-channel abort path.

* Availability impact realistic: +1
  The deadlock may persist until device reset, driver recovery, or reboot, affecting Wi-Fi availability.

* Hard or unreliable race / special timing required: -1
  Triggering requires overlap between `mt7921_roc_abort_sync()` and active `roc_work()` while mutex ownership lines up in the problematic order.

Not counted:

* No generic memory corruption. No UAF, OOB write, double-free, type confusion, or refcount lifetime primitive is visible.
* No privilege escalation plausible from the patch context.
* No confidentiality or integrity impact.
* No full remote/network score. This is at most adjacent Wi-Fi influence, not Internet reachable.
* No broad/default subsystem bonus. The issue is limited to mt7921 driver workflows.

## 3. Reachability analysis

The conservative path requires local or privileged control over Wi-Fi state transitions, such as station removal or driver/network management operations. In typical deployments, direct control over these operations may require `CAP_NET_ADMIN` or a privileged network manager, which keeps the conservative score low.

The paranoid path considers that station removal can sometimes be influenced by an adjacent Wi-Fi peer or AP behavior, but reliable exploitation still depends on mt7921 hardware, active remain-on-channel state, pending `roc_work`, and race timing. Containers and namespaces generally do not make this easier unless they are delegated meaningful wireless or network administration control.

## 4. Severity interpretation

This behaves like an ordinary Moderate or Low-like driver availability issue, not an Important-class vulnerability. The theoretical impact is a persistent Wi-Fi driver deadlock or local system responsiveness issue around the affected workqueue path. There is no evidence of memory corruption, sensitive data exposure, privilege escalation, or cross-boundary security bypass.

## 5. One-sentence report phrase

A deadlock in mt7921 remain-on-channel abort handling can occur when `cancel_work_sync()` waits for `roc_work` while the same mt76 mutex is already held, causing a persistent Wi-Fi driver DoS under specific station removal timing.

## 6. Manual review recommendation

MANUAL CHECK RECOMMENDED

Manual review is useful to confirm whether adjacent Wi-Fi triggered station removal can realistically reach this path in the target environment. It is not a strong Important candidate because the patch shows a deadlock only, with no memory corruption or privilege escalation primitive.

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UPSTREAM PATCH SUMMARY
======================================================================

Patch: wifi: mt76: mt7921: fix potential deadlock in mt7921_roc_abort_sync [ Upstream
Commit: 35180c772f5e11e2fa4d80d3dfd50906cb6d9646
Upstream URL: https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git/commit/?id=35180c772f5e11e2fa4d80d3dfd50906cb6d9646

Changed files:
  drivers/net/wireless/mediatek/mt76/mt7921/main.c

Diff excerpt:

Not included in this email. See the upstream URL for the full patch.

Full patch:
https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git/commit/?id=35180c772f5e11e2fa4d80d3dfd50906cb6d9646

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DETAILED REPORT METHODOLOGY
======================================================================

The original Linux kernel CVE announcement for CVE-2026-53101 can be found here:
https://lore.kernel.org/linux-cve-announce/?q=CVE-2026-53101

The original CVE announcement normally does not include a security-level
estimate. In particular, it may not contain a CVSS assessment, an impact
level, or enough information to determine whether the reported bug is a
practically relevant security issue. One purpose of this parallel CVE list
is to provide that missing technical and prioritization information.

The original goal of the AL-KERNEL project was to prioritize Linux kernel
CVE analysis automatically before manual review. The system can also help
identify non-security issues that may be suitable for automatic closure.

This report was generated by AL-KERNEL, an AI-assisted Linux kernel
vulnerability analysis system developed by Alexander Larkin.

The first analysis stage combines an autonomous classifier with additional
LLM-based analysis. The autonomous classifier runs locally on a CPU and is
based on a backpropagation neural network. Together, these mechanisms
produce a technical vulnerability description, identify likely weakness
types, estimate CVSS severity, and provide input for ActionableScore.

Two CVSS estimates are retained because incomplete kernel vulnerability
information often permits more than one defensible interpretation:

  Conservative CVSS vector: AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
  The Best / paranoid CVSS vector: AV:A/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
  The Best / paranoid CVSS score: 5.3

The conservative vector represents a lower-impact interpretation.
The Best/paranoid vector intentionally represents a plausible upper-bound
interpretation and should not automatically be treated as demonstrated
real-world impact.

CVSS may also need to be adjusted for a particular Linux deployment,
because actual reachability, privileges, enabled kernel configuration,
hardware, namespaces, exposed device nodes, and other environmental
conditions can differ significantly between systems.

A separate ActionableScore mechanism evaluates practical remediation
urgency. Its analysis may include reachability, attack prerequisites,
subsystem exposure, memory-corruption characteristics, denial-of-service
reliability, and possible confidentiality, integrity, or
privilege-escalation impact.

  Conservative ActionableScore: 0
  Paranoid ActionableScore: 2

The final base severity is taken directly from the second tab-separated
field of the AL-KERNEL classification result. ActionableScore does not
replace or independently override that final AL-KERNEL decision, and
if ActionableScore adjusted impact level of ALKERNEL, then you would see
self-readable flags above like INCREASED_TO_HIGH_BASED_ON_ACTIONABLESCOREHIGHEREQTHAN7.

For an AL-KERNEL result of MODERATE, this report uses the following
additional presentation split:

  ActionableScore below 5   -> MODERATE REGULAR
  ActionableScore 5 or more -> MODERATE 7.0

The distinction between MODERATE REGULAR and MODERATE 7.0 makes it
possible to identify Moderate issues that should receive manual analysis
and fixes before lower-priority MODERATE REGULAR issues. In many cases,
MODERATE REGULAR fixes may wait for a later rebase or routine update.

There is one override in which MODERATE REGULAR becomes MODERATE 7.0
even when the ActionableScore is below 5. When the AL-KERNEL result
contains the KPANIC flag, a MODERATE result is always presented as
MODERATE 7.0. The KPANIC flag selected with few regexps without
usage of AI at all, so it helps to detect cases when Kernel Crash happens
and similar (to filter False-Negative results from the LLM usage).

KPANIC indicates that a reliable kernel crash, kernel panic, or similarly
serious kernel availability impact was identified by the classification
workflow.

AL-KERNEL base severity for this report: MODERATE
KPANIC detected for this report: NO
Published priority for this report (same as in Subject): MODERATE REGULAR

These results are intended to support engineering triage. They are
machine-generated estimates, and cases marked for manual review should
be validated by a human security engineer before final disposition.
For more info read docs linked from here: https://kernelcve.org/
(and you can submit you own patch there to generate such a report
for non-existant CVE-id yet).

Note that in many cases this AI tool selects higher severity, than
real is (means you can expect Importants instead of Moderate 7.0 or
Moderates 7.0 instead of regular Moderates). If you see such cases,
please use reply email interface to add additional manual analyses
info to this particular CVE.
And please, please, let me know when you see Lows instead of Importants
or Important instead of Low (because particular for such cases I
need to tune this AI tool to make it better for this one and next similar).
My contact email for such notifications is alexanjelausa@gmail.com (and both
send reply to CVE record itself too and see "reply" button below for howto reply).