CVE-2022-42771 is a medium-severity vulnerability identified in the WLAN driver of several Unisoc (Shanghai) Technologies Co., Ltd. chipsets, including SC9863A, SC9832E, SC7731E, and multiple T-series models (T610, T310, T606, T760, T618, T612, T616, T770, T820, S8020). The vulnerability stems from a race condition (CWE-362) caused by improper synchronization during concurrent execution of shared resources within the WLAN driver. This flaw can be triggered locally by an attacker with low privileges (local access with low privileges required) and does not require user interaction. Exploiting this race condition can lead to a denial of service (DoS) condition affecting WLAN services, resulting in loss of wireless connectivity or instability of the wireless network interface on affected devices. The vulnerability impacts devices running Android versions 10, 11, and 12 that utilize these Unisoc chipsets. The CVSS v3.1 base score is 4.7 (medium), with the vector indicating local attack vector (AV:L), high attack complexity (AC:H), low privileges required (PR:L), no user interaction (UI:N), unchanged scope (S:U), no confidentiality or integrity impact (C:N/I:N), and high impact on availability (A:H). No known exploits are currently reported in the wild, and no patches have been linked yet. The race condition arises from improper synchronization mechanisms in the WLAN driver code, which can cause concurrent threads or processes to access shared resources unsafely, leading to crashes or service interruptions in WLAN functionality. This vulnerability is primarily a local DoS risk rather than a remote code execution or data compromise threat.

For European organizations, the primary impact of CVE-2022-42771 is the potential disruption of wireless network services on devices using affected Unisoc chipsets. This can lead to temporary loss of wireless connectivity, affecting mobile devices, IoT devices, or embedded systems relying on these chipsets. Organizations with a significant deployment of Android devices powered by Unisoc chipsets—commonly found in budget and mid-range smartphones and some IoT products—may experience operational interruptions, reduced productivity, or degraded user experience. While the vulnerability does not allow data theft or privilege escalation, the denial of service could impact critical communications, especially in environments relying on wireless connectivity for operational continuity. Sectors such as manufacturing, logistics, healthcare, and public services that use Android-based devices with these chipsets could face intermittent network outages. However, since exploitation requires local access and no remote exploitation is known, the threat is limited to scenarios where an attacker has physical or local access to the device. The absence of user interaction requirement means that once local access is gained, exploitation can be automated or triggered without user consent, increasing risk in shared device environments.

1. Monitor vendor communications closely for official patches or firmware updates from Unisoc or device manufacturers and apply them promptly once available. 2. Limit local access to devices using affected Unisoc chipsets by enforcing strict physical security controls and device usage policies, especially in sensitive environments. 3. Employ mobile device management (MDM) solutions to monitor device health and connectivity status, enabling rapid detection of WLAN service disruptions potentially caused by this vulnerability. 4. Where feasible, consider replacing or upgrading devices using affected chipsets with models based on other vendors’ hardware that do not exhibit this vulnerability, especially for critical operational roles. 5. Educate users and administrators about the risk of local attacks and enforce policies that restrict installation of untrusted applications or unauthorized access to device internals. 6. For IoT deployments, segment networks to isolate devices with affected chipsets, reducing the risk of lateral movement if a device is compromised locally. 7. Implement robust logging and alerting on WLAN service failures to detect potential exploitation attempts early. 8. In environments where local access cannot be fully controlled, consider additional endpoint protection solutions that can detect anomalous driver or system behavior indicative of exploitation attempts.