Read the docs
TI-2026-18831 Aliases CVE-2026-23396GHSA-w4qg-rh8m-6c8q

wifi: mac80211: fix NULL deref in mesh_matches_local()

Priority LOW 24CWE-476Published · Updated

Key facts

Attack vector
Local
Privileges required
Low
User interaction
None
Attack complexity
Low
Impact type
Denial of service
Confidentiality · integrity · availability
None · None · High
Fix status
Fixed

Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · NVD. Fix status from CNA. Impact type from CWE-476.

Summary

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: wifi: mac80211: fix NULL deref in mesh_matches_local() mesh_matches_local() unconditionally dereferences ie->mesh_config to compare mesh configuration parameters. When called from mesh_rx_csa_frame(), the parsed action-frame elements may not contain a Mesh Configuration IE, leaving ie->mesh_config NULL and triggering a kernel NULL pointer dereference. The other two callers are already safe: - ieee80211_mesh_rx_bcn_presp() checks !elems->mesh_config before calling mesh_matches_local() - mesh_plink_get_event() is only reached through mesh_process_plink_frame(), which checks !elems->mesh_config, too mesh_rx_csa_frame() is the only caller that passes raw parsed elements to mesh_matches_local() without guarding mesh_config. An adjacent attacker can exploit this by sending a crafted CSA action frame that includes a valid Mesh ID IE but omits the Mesh Configuration IE, crashing the kernel. The captured crash log: Oops: general protection fault, probably for non-canonical address ... KASAN: null-ptr-deref in range [0x0000000000000000-0x0000000000000007] Workqueue: events_unbound cfg80211_wiphy_work [...] Call Trace: <TASK> ? __pfx_mesh_matches_local (net/mac80211/mesh.c:65) ieee80211_mesh_rx_queued_mgmt (net/mac80211/mesh.c:1686) [...] ieee80211_iface_work (net/mac80211/iface.c:1754 net/mac80211/iface.c:1802) [...] cfg80211_wiphy_work (net/wireless/core.c:426) process_one_work (net/kernel/workqueue.c:3280) ? assign_work (net/kernel/workqueue.c:1219) worker_thread (net/kernel/workqueue.c:3352) ? __pfx_worker_thread (net/kernel/workqueue.c:3385) kthread (net/kernel/kthread.c:436) [...] ret_from_fork_asm (net/arch/x86/entry/entry_64.S:255) </TASK> This patch adds a NULL check for ie->mesh_config at the top of mesh_matches_local() to return false early when the Mesh Configuration IE is absent.

Why it matters now

EPSS 0.00121 1st percentileScored 2026-11-07
Fix Fixed Linux (Linux): 5.10.253, 5.15.203, 6.1.167 +5

SSVC decision points

Not available: CISA has not published SSVC decision points for this record.

Affected products

VendorProductAffected versionsFixed inStatusSource
LinuxLinux2.6.26 and later5.10.253, 5.15.203, 6.1.167, 6.6.130, 6.12.78, 6.18.20, 6.19.10, 7.0Patch availableCNA
  • Linux VendorLinux Affected 2.6.26 and later Fixed in 5.10.253, 5.15.203, 6.1.167, 6.6.130, 6.12.78, 6.18.20, 6.19.10, 7.0 Patch available CNA

CPE configurations NVD · 9

CPEVersionsRoleVendor
cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*2.6.26.1 to before 5.10.253; 5.11 to before 5.15.203; 5.16 to before 6.1.167; 6.2 to before 6.6.130; 6.7 to before 6.12.78; 6.13 to before 6.18.20; 6.19 to before 6.19.10VulnerableLinux
cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:2.6.26:-:*:*:*:*:*:*2.6.26VulnerableLinux
cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:7.0:rc1:*:*:*:*:*:*7.0 rc1VulnerableLinux
cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:7.0:rc2:*:*:*:*:*:*7.0 rc2VulnerableLinux
cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:7.0:rc3:*:*:*:*:*:*7.0 rc3VulnerableLinux
cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:7.0:rc4:*:*:*:*:*:*7.0 rc4VulnerableLinux
cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:7.0:rc5:*:*:*:*:*:*7.0 rc5VulnerableLinux
cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:7.0:rc6:*:*:*:*:*:*7.0 rc6VulnerableLinux
cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:7.0:rc7:*:*:*:*:*:*7.0 rc7VulnerableLinux
  • cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 2.6.26.1 to before 5.10.253; 5.11 to before 5.15.203; 5.16 to before 6.1.167; 6.2 to before 6.6.130; 6.7 to before 6.12.78; 6.13 to before 6.18.20; 6.19 to before 6.19.10 Vulnerable ·Linux
  • cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:2.6.26:-:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 2.6.26 Vulnerable ·Linux
  • cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:7.0:rc1:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 7.0 rc1 Vulnerable ·Linux
  • cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:7.0:rc2:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 7.0 rc2 Vulnerable ·Linux
  • cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:7.0:rc3:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 7.0 rc3 Vulnerable ·Linux
  • cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:7.0:rc4:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 7.0 rc4 Vulnerable ·Linux
  • cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:7.0:rc5:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 7.0 rc5 Vulnerable ·Linux
  • cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:7.0:rc6:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 7.0 rc6 Vulnerable ·Linux
  • cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:7.0:rc7:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 7.0 rc7 Vulnerable ·Linux

Remediation

  • Fix · CNA Linux (Linux) Fixed in 5.10.253, 5.15.203, 6.1.167, 6.6.130, 6.12.78, 6.18.20, 6.19.10, 7.0

Vendor assessments

Red Hat

Red Hat's page for this CVE →

Not affected: 5 products
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9

Timeline

  1. 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-23396
  2. 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-w4qg-rh8m-6c8q

References

  • TI-2025-26358 tls: fix handling of zero-length records on the rx_list KEVCVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.8
  • TI-2026-38352 netfilter: bridge: make ebt_snat ARP rewrite writable KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.8
  • TI-2013-05264 The (1) get_user and (2) put_user API functions in the Linux kernel before 3.5.5 on the… KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.8
  • TI-2022-00125 Integer overflow in kernel KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.4
  • TI-2013-01864 The perf_swevent_init function in kernel/events/core.c in the Linux kernel before 3.8.9… KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.4
  • TI-2021-05514 Heap Out-Of-Bounds Write in Netfilter IP6T_SO_SET_REPLACE KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.3
See all 15278 →

Sources