wifi: mac80211: fix tid_tx use-after-free on BA session stop
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Adjacent network
- Privileges required
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Impact type
- —
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- High · High · High
- Fix status
- Partial Red Hat: 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: fix tid_tx use-after-free on BA session stop ieee80211_stop_tx_ba_cb() hands tid_tx to kfree_rcu() through ieee80211_remove_tid_tx(), and then reads tid_tx->ndp after dropping sta->lock: ieee80211_remove_tid_tx(sta, tid); /* kfree_rcu(tid_tx, rcu_head) */ ... spin_unlock_bh(&sta->lock); if (start_txq) ieee80211_agg_start_txq(sta, tid, false); if (send_delba) ieee80211_send_delba(..., tid_tx->ndp); That read is not covered by an RCU read-side critical section, and it runs in preemptible process context: both callers hold the wiphy mutex, reaching it either from the ieee80211_ba_session_work() wiphy work or from ieee80211_sta_tear_down_BA_sessions() during station teardown. Softirqs can run in that window too, both from the local_bh_enable() that ends ieee80211_agg_start_txq() and from any interrupt exit, so the RCU callback can free tid_tx before the read. Driving the function from a test module with the grace period forced into that window, KASAN reports the read, and the free arrives on the ordinary RCU softirq path: BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in ieee80211_stop_tx_ba_cb+0x3cd/0x400 Read of size 1 at addr ffff888002b9f52e by task kworker/0:1/10 [...] Freed by task 57: __kasan_slab_free+0x47/0x70 __rcu_free_sheaf_prepare+0x70/0x250 rcu_free_sheaf_nobarn+0x18/0x40 rcu_core+0x426/0x1310 handle_softirqs+0x144/0x590 __irq_exit_rcu+0xea/0x150 irq_exit_rcu+0x9/0x20 sysvec_apic_timer_interrupt+0x6b/0x80 asm_sysvec_apic_timer_interrupt+0x1a/0x20 send_delba is only set when tx_stop is set, which happens for AGG_STOP_LOCAL_REQUEST alone, so this is reached on local teardown - session idle timeout, PTK rekey, suspend, HW reconfig - and not from a peer's DELBA. Read ndp into a local before the session is freed, while sta->lock is still held. tid_tx->ndp has a single writer, in ieee80211_tx_ba_session_handle_start(), which cannot run concurrently here: both paths are serialised by the wiphy mutex, and the session is already marked HT_AGG_STATE_STOPPING at this point. tid_tx->ndp is also the only tid_tx dereference left after ieee80211_remove_tid_tx() in this function. [move/change the comment a bit to be more general not just on ndp, initialize ndp directly]
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 7.1.8, 7.2
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: Fix deferred |
Not affected: 3 products
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-74489
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-qpmf-fc23-r543
- 2026-10-18 CISA SSVC decision points changed
- 2026-10-18 Priority changed: LOW → MEDIUM
- 2026-10-27 CVSS score changed · Red Hat
- 2026-10-29 Affected versions changed · Red Hat
References
More Linux vulnerabilities
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Sources
- CVE-2026-74489 · CVE Program
- CVE-2026-74489 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-qpmf-fc23-r543 · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2026-74489 · 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