wifi: mac80211: Discard Beacon frames to non-broadcast address
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Adjacent network
- Privileges required
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Impact type
- —
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- None · Low · High
- Fix status
- Partial Red Hat: 4 fixed, 3 without a fix
Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · CNA. Fix status from CNA and Red Hat.
Summary
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: wifi: mac80211: Discard Beacon frames to non-broadcast address Beacon frames are required to be sent to the broadcast address, see IEEE Std 802.11-2020, 11.1.3.1 ("The Address 1 field of the Beacon .. frame shall be set to the broadcast address"). A unicast Beacon frame might be used as a targeted attack to get one of the associated STAs to do something (e.g., using CSA to move it to another channel). As such, it is better have strict filtering for this on the received side and discard all Beacon frames that are sent to an unexpected address. This is even more important for cases where beacon protection is used. The current implementation in mac80211 is correctly discarding unicast Beacon frames if the Protected Frame bit in the Frame Control field is set to 0. However, if that bit is set to 1, the logic used for checking for configured BIGTK(s) does not actually work. If the driver does not have logic for dropping unicast Beacon frames with Protected Frame bit 1, these frames would be accepted in mac80211 processing as valid Beacon frames even though they are not protected. This would allow beacon protection to be bypassed. While the logic for checking beacon protection could be extended to cover this corner case, a more generic check for discard all Beacon frames based on A1=unicast address covers this without needing additional changes. Address all these issues by dropping received Beacon frames if they are sent to a non-broadcast address.
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
CISA ADP · SSVC 2.0.3
- Exploitation
- None
- Automatable
- No
- Technical impact
- Partial
The decision (Track, Attend, Act) also depends on your mission and well-being impact; see CISA's SSVC guide.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Linux | Linux | 5.7 and later | 5.10.248, 5.15.198, 6.1.160, 6.6.120, 6.12.65, 6.18.4, 6.19 | Patch available | CNA |
- Linux VendorLinux Affected 5.7 and later Fixed in 5.10.248, 5.15.198, 6.1.160, 6.6.120, 6.12.65, 6.18.4, 6.19 Patch available CNA
CPE configurations NVD · 10
| CPE | Versions | Role | Vendor |
|---|---|---|---|
| cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | 5.7.1 to before 5.10.248; 5.11 to before 5.15.198; 5.16 to before 6.1.160; 6.2 to before 6.6.120; 6.7 to before 6.12.65; 6.13 to before 6.18.4 | Vulnerable | Linux |
| cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:5.7:-:*:*:*:*:*:* | 5.7 | Vulnerable | Linux |
| cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.19:rc1:*:*:*:*:*:* | 6.19 rc1 | Vulnerable | Linux |
| cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.19:rc2:*:*:*:*:*:* | 6.19 rc2 | Vulnerable | Linux |
| cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.19:rc3:*:*:*:*:*:* | 6.19 rc3 | Vulnerable | Linux |
| cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.19:rc4:*:*:*:*:*:* | 6.19 rc4 | Vulnerable | Linux |
| cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.19:rc5:*:*:*:*:*:* | 6.19 rc5 | Vulnerable | Linux |
| cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.19:rc6:*:*:*:*:*:* | 6.19 rc6 | Vulnerable | Linux |
| cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.19:rc7:*:*:*:*:*:* | 6.19 rc7 | Vulnerable | Linux |
| cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.19:rc8:*:*:*:*:*:* | 6.19 rc8 | Vulnerable | Linux |
- cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 5.7.1 to before 5.10.248; 5.11 to before 5.15.198; 5.16 to before 6.1.160; 6.2 to before 6.6.120; 6.7 to before 6.12.65; 6.13 to before 6.18.4 Vulnerable ·Linux
- cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:5.7:-:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 5.7 Vulnerable ·Linux
- cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.19:rc1:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 6.19 rc1 Vulnerable ·Linux
- cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.19:rc2:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 6.19 rc2 Vulnerable ·Linux
- cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.19:rc3:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 6.19 rc3 Vulnerable ·Linux
- cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.19:rc4:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 6.19 rc4 Vulnerable ·Linux
- cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.19:rc5:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 6.19 rc5 Vulnerable ·Linux
- cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.19:rc6:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 6.19 rc6 Vulnerable ·Linux
- cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.19:rc7:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 6.19 rc7 Vulnerable ·Linux
- cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.19:rc8:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 6.19 rc8 Vulnerable ·Linux
Remediation
- Fix · CNA Linux (Linux) Fixed in 5.10.248, 5.15.198, 6.1.160, 6.6.120, 6.12.65, 6.18.4, 6.19
Red Hat 2 advisories
- RHSA-2026:67468 Released 2026-09-15 · Red Hat rating Importantkernel security update
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux BaseOS (v. 8) bpftool-4.18.0-553.163.1.el8_10, kernel-4.18.0-553.163.1.el8_10, kernel-abi-stablelists-4.18.0-553.163.1.el8_10 +19
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux CRB (v. 8) kernel-tools-libs-devel-4.18.0-553.163.1.el8_10
- RHSA-2026:67469 Released 2026-09-15 · Red Hat rating Importantkernel-rt security update
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux NFV (v. 8) kernel-rt-4.18.0-553.163.1.rt7.504.el8_10, kernel-rt-core-4.18.0-553.163.1.rt7.504.el8_10, kernel-rt-debug-4.18.0-553.163.1.rt7.504.el8_10 +9
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux RT (v. 8) kernel-rt-4.18.0-553.163.1.rt7.504.el8_10, kernel-rt-core-4.18.0-553.163.1.rt7.504.el8_10, kernel-rt-debug-4.18.0-553.163.1.rt7.504.el8_10 +7
Vendor assessments
Red Hat
Red Hat rating: Moderate. Red Hat's page for this CVE →
| Product | Status | Plan or fix |
|---|---|---|
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 | Affected | No fix planned: Out of support scope |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 | Affected | No fix yet |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux BaseOS (v. 8) | Fixed | RHSA-2026:67468 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux CRB (v. 8) | Fixed | RHSA-2026:67468 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux NFV (v. 8) | Fixed | RHSA-2026:67469 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux RT (v. 8) | Fixed | RHSA-2026:67469 |
Not affected: 1 product
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2025-71127
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-xmv5-397p-vvvx
- 2026-10-19 Weakness changed · CISA ADP
- 2026-10-29 Affected versions changed · Red Hat
References
Patch 7
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/be0974be5c42584e027883ac2af7dab5e950098c
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/0a59a3895f804469276d188effa511c72e752f35
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/88aab153d1528bc559292a12fb5105ee97528e1f
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/6e5bff40bb38741e40c33043ba0816fba5f93661
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/7b240a8935d554ad36a52c2c37c32039f9afaef2
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/a21704df4024708be698fb3fd5830d5b113b70e0
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/193d18f60588e95d62e0f82b6a53893e5f2f19f8
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Sources
- CVE-2025-71127 · CVE Program
- CVE-2025-71127 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-xmv5-397p-vvvx · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2025-71127 · Red Hat security data · CC BY 4.0
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