wifi: mac80211: always free skb on ieee80211_tx_prepare_skb() failure
Priority LOW 35CWE-401Published · Updated
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Local
- Privileges required
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Impact type
- Denial of service
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- High · High · High
- Fix status
- Partial Red Hat: 4 without a fix
Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · CNA. Fix status from CNA and Red Hat. Impact type from CWE-401.
Summary
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: wifi: mac80211: always free skb on ieee80211_tx_prepare_skb() failure ieee80211_tx_prepare_skb() has three error paths, but only two of them free the skb. The first error path (ieee80211_tx_prepare() returning TX_DROP) does not free it, while invoke_tx_handlers() failure and the fragmentation check both do. Add kfree_skb() to the first error path so all three are consistent, and remove the now-redundant frees in callers (ath9k, mt76, mac80211_hwsim) to avoid double-free. Document the skb ownership guarantee in the function's kdoc.
Why it matters now
Exploitation None reported CISA SSVC · not in CISA KEV
EPSS 0.00141 3rd percentileScored 2026-11-07
Fix Partial Linux (Linux): 5.10.258, 5.15.209, 6.1.175 +5Red Hat: 4 without a fix
SSVC decision points
CISA ADP · SSVC 2.0.3
- Exploitation
- None
- Automatable
- No
- Technical impact
- Total
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 | 3.13 and later | 5.10.258, 5.15.209, 6.1.175, 6.6.136, 6.12.84, 6.18.20, 6.19.10, 7.0 | Patch available | CNA |
- Linux VendorLinux Affected 3.13 and later Fixed in 5.10.258, 5.15.209, 6.1.175, 6.6.136, 6.12.84, 6.18.20, 6.19.10, 7.0 Patch available CNA
CPE configurations NVD · 9
| CPE | Versions | Role | Vendor |
|---|---|---|---|
| cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | 3.13.1 to before 6.18.20; 6.19 to before 6.19.10 | Vulnerable | Linux |
| cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:3.13:-:*:*:*:*:*:* | 3.13 | Vulnerable | Linux |
| cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:7.0:rc1:*:*:*:*:*:* | 7.0 rc1 | Vulnerable | Linux |
| cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:7.0:rc2:*:*:*:*:*:* | 7.0 rc2 | Vulnerable | Linux |
| cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:7.0:rc3:*:*:*:*:*:* | 7.0 rc3 | Vulnerable | Linux |
| cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:7.0:rc4:*:*:*:*:*:* | 7.0 rc4 | Vulnerable | Linux |
| cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:7.0:rc5:*:*:*:*:*:* | 7.0 rc5 | Vulnerable | Linux |
| cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:7.0:rc6:*:*:*:*:*:* | 7.0 rc6 | Vulnerable | Linux |
| cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:7.0:rc7:*:*:*:*:*:* | 7.0 rc7 | Vulnerable | Linux |
- cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 3.13.1 to before 6.18.20; 6.19 to before 6.19.10 Vulnerable ·Linux
- cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:3.13:-:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 3.13 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 5.10.258, 5.15.209, 6.1.175, 6.6.136, 6.12.84, 6.18.20, 6.19.10, 7.0
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 8 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
Not affected: 1 product
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-23444
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-84pr-vgrv-386j
- 2026-10-16 CISA SSVC decision points changed
- 2026-10-19 Weakness changed · CISA ADP
References
Patch 3
Other 5
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/905ef207d5ed99ca64adfe39fba9ac46e434327a
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/5ef8ca1c164786da24169af155c1ca1ff1353cf8
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/9a779d1f480e83720b5384adf165604e7ee226bd
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/f77b51bcee7be2bb686b5f7a2d4a1921e4bdb9f4
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/3b4d27acafaeab478fd24f79ad6e593a892828b9
More Linux Kernel vulnerabilities
- 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
Sources
- CVE-2026-23444 · CVE Program
- CVE-2026-23444 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-84pr-vgrv-386j · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2026-23444 · Red Hat security data · CC BY 4.0
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