wifi: cfg80211: use wiphy work for socket owner autodisconnect
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Local
- Privileges required
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Impact type
- —
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- High · High · High
- Fix status
- Partial Red Hat: 5 fixed, 6 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: cfg80211: use wiphy work for socket owner autodisconnect nl80211_netlink_notify() walks the cfg80211 wireless device list when a NETLINK_GENERIC socket is released. If the socket owns a connection, the notifier queues the embedded wdev->disconnect_wk work item. That work is a plain work_struct today. NETDEV_GOING_DOWN cancels it, but a NETLINK_URELEASE notifier that already observed conn_owner_nlportid can queue it after that cancel returns. _cfg80211_unregister_wdev() then removes the wdev from the list and waits for RCU readers, but synchronize_net() does not drain work queued by such a reader. Make the autodisconnect work a wiphy_work instead. The callback already needs the wiphy mutex, and wiphy_work runs under that mutex. This lets teardown cancel pending autodisconnect work while holding the mutex, without a cancel_work_sync() vs. worker locking concern. Also cancel the wiphy work after list_del_rcu() and synchronize_net(). Any NETLINK_URELEASE notifier that had already reached the wdev list has then either queued the work and it is removed, or can no longer find the wdev.
Why it matters now
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
Remediation
- Fix · CNA Linux (Linux) Fixed in 6.1.191, 6.6.160, 6.12.114, 6.18.57, 7.1.6, 7.2
Red Hat 1 advisory
- RHSA-2026:83156 Released 2026-10-14 · Red Hat rating Importantkernel security update
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 9) kernel-64k-debug-devel-5.14.0-687.58.1.el9_8, kernel-64k-debug-devel-matched-5.14.0-687.58.1.el9_8, kernel-64k-devel-5.14.0-687.58.1.el9_8 +12
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux BaseOS (v. 9) kernel-5.14.0-687.58.1.el9_8, kernel-64k-5.14.0-687.58.1.el9_8, kernel-64k-core-5.14.0-687.58.1.el9_8 +28
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux CodeReady Linux Builder (v. 9) kernel-tools-libs-devel-5.14.0-687.58.1.el9_8, libperf-5.14.0-687.58.1.el9_8
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux Real Time (v. 9) kernel-rt-5.14.0-687.58.1.el9_8, kernel-rt-64k-5.14.0-687.58.1.el9_8, kernel-rt-64k-core-5.14.0-687.58.1.el9_8 +21
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux Real Time for NFV (v. 9) kernel-rt-5.14.0-687.58.1.el9_8, kernel-rt-core-5.14.0-687.58.1.el9_8, kernel-rt-debug-5.14.0-687.58.1.el9_8 +9
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 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 | Affected | No fix yet |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 | Affected | No fix yet |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux for NVIDIA 26 | Affected | No fix planned: Out of support scope |
| Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4 | Affected | No fix yet |
| Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 5 | Affected | No fix yet |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 9) | Fixed | RHSA-2026:83156 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux BaseOS (v. 9) | Fixed | RHSA-2026:83156 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux CodeReady Linux Builder (v. 9) | Fixed | RHSA-2026:83156 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux Real Time (v. 9) | Fixed | RHSA-2026:83156 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux Real Time for NFV (v. 9) | Fixed | RHSA-2026:83156 |
Not affected: 3 products
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
- Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-68404
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-qhv7-v7h4-97x3
- 2026-10-16 Fix available: RHSA-2026:83156 · Red Hat
- 2026-10-16 Fix available: Linux/[email protected], Linux/Linux@c2ddd180bbee766cf7359473d623423ea9485d93 · CNA
- 2026-10-16 1 new reference · CNA
- 2026-10-16 Fix available: Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 9), Red Hat Enterprise Linux BaseOS (v. 9), Red Hat Enterprise Linux CodeReady Linux Builder (v. 9) +2 · Red Hat
- 2026-10-16 CISA SSVC decision points changed
- 2026-10-20 Weakness changed · CISA ADP
- 2026-10-21 Fix available: Linux/Linux@4087a9ba4ece70297a4174afaa41c0b700302b65, Linux/[email protected], Linux/[email protected] +1 · CNA
- 2026-10-21 2 new references · CNA
- 2026-10-30 Affected versions changed · Red Hat
- 2026-10-30 Fix available: Linux/Linux@23517673b1eecaec95e61dde285220d5a980cf3f, Linux/[email protected] · CNA
- 2026-10-30 1 new reference · CNA
- 2026-10-31 Affected versions changed · Red Hat
References
Other 6
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/23517673b1eecaec95e61dde285220d5a980cf3f
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/c55590e4c69e0fd194df6d20bc35381c201d99e1
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/4087a9ba4ece70297a4174afaa41c0b700302b65
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/c2ddd180bbee766cf7359473d623423ea9485d93
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/6d6123fef5a4af175cc6b6b12a03dd0f3c240b79
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/0c2ed186bbe14304415476d6707b747dddcd8583
More Linux 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-2021-02452 Incorrect authorization in Ubuntu linux kernel 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
Sources
- CVE-2026-68404 · CVE Program
- CVE-2026-68404 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-qhv7-v7h4-97x3 · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2026-68404 · Red Hat security data · CC BY 4.0
This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. Sources and licences