---
id: CVE-2023-53071
title: 'wifi: mt76: do not run mt76_unregister_device() on unregistered hw'
summary: |-
  In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

  wifi: mt76: do not run mt76_unregister_device() on unregistered hw

  Trying to probe a mt7921e pci card without firmware results in a
  successful probe where ieee80211_re…
severity: none
vendor: Linux
product: Linux
affected:
  - >-
    Linux >= 1c71e03afe4b457a15e50de40006b927dfc00755 <
    dffe86df26aee01a5fc56a175b7a7f157961e370
  - >-
    Linux >= 1c71e03afe4b457a15e50de40006b927dfc00755 <
    2d34f27714c97a9786a30b3bb54944d6d8ed612f
  - >-
    Linux >= 1c71e03afe4b457a15e50de40006b927dfc00755 <
    41130c32f3a18fcc930316da17f3a5f3bc326aa1
  - Linux 5.18
ssvc:
  exploitation: none
  automatable: 'no'
  technicalImpact: partial
  timestamp: '2026-11-05T20:16:17.283781Z'
published: '2025-05-02'
updated: '2026-11-05'
sourceUpdated: '2026-11-05T20:20:58.418Z'
source: CVEORG
sourceUrl: 'https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-53071'
references:
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/dffe86df26aee01a5fc56a175b7a7f157961e370'
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/2d34f27714c97a9786a30b3bb54944d6d8ed612f'
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/41130c32f3a18fcc930316da17f3a5f3bc326aa1'
tags:
  - cve.org
epss: 0.00199
epssPercentile: 0.09818
ingestedAt: '2026-11-05T22:38:31.763Z'
---

## Overview

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

wifi: mt76: do not run mt76_unregister_device() on unregistered hw

Trying to probe a mt7921e pci card without firmware results in a
successful probe where ieee80211_register_hw hasn't been called. When
removing the driver, ieee802111_unregister_hw is called unconditionally
leading to a kernel NULL pointer dereference.
Fix the issue running mt76_unregister_device routine just for registered
hw.

## Affected

- `Linux >= 1c71e03afe4b457a15e50de40006b927dfc00755 < dffe86df26aee01a5fc56a175b7a7f157961e370`
- `Linux >= 1c71e03afe4b457a15e50de40006b927dfc00755 < 2d34f27714c97a9786a30b3bb54944d6d8ed612f`
- `Linux >= 1c71e03afe4b457a15e50de40006b927dfc00755 < 41130c32f3a18fcc930316da17f3a5f3bc326aa1`
- `Linux 5.18`

## Remediation

Refer to the linked advisories for vendor-supplied fixes and affected version ranges.