Vulnerability record · CVE-2009-2844 · published 18 August 2009
CVE-2009-2844: Linux kernel vulnerability
Linux · Kernel
cfg80211 in net/wireless/scan.c in the Linux kernel 2.6.30-rc1 and other versions before 2.6.31-rc6 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (crash) via a sequence of beacon frames in which one frame omits an SSID Information Element (IE) and the subsequent frame contains an SSID IE, which triggers a NULL pointer dereference in the cmp_ies function. NOTE: a potential weakness in the is_mesh function was also addressed, but the relevant condition did not exist in the code, so it is not a vulnerability.
Description
cfg80211 in net/wireless/scan.c in the Linux kernel 2.6.30-rc1 and other versions before 2.6.31-rc6 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (crash) via a sequence of beacon frames in which one frame omits an SSID Information Element (IE) and the subsequent frame contains an SSID IE, which triggers a NULL pointer dereference in the cmp_ies function. NOTE: a potential weakness in the is_mesh function was also addressed, but the relevant condition did not exist in the code, so it is not a vulnerability.
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:C
Affected products
2 vulnerable configurations from NVD's CPE data, grouped by vendor and product.
References
Track CVE-2009-2844 inside VULONE
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Related vulnerabilities
Same products first, then exploited flaws of the same weakness class.
Source: NIST National Vulnerability Database (record CVE-2009-2844), CISA KEV, FIRST EPSS (scores of 2026-09-27). This page is refreshed as NVD updates the record.
