wifi: ath11k: fix stride mismatch in mac_phy_caps_parse()
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Local
- Privileges required
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Impact type
- —
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- High · High · High
- Fix status
- Partial Red Hat: 5 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: ath11k: fix stride mismatch in mac_phy_caps_parse() Currently, in ath11k_wmi_tlv_mac_phy_caps_parse(), kcalloc() sizes the mac_phy_caps buffer as tot_phy_id * len, where len is clamped to min(firmware_len, sizeof(struct wmi_mac_phy_capabilities)). The subsequent memcpy() destination advances by sizeof(full struct) per slot via C pointer arithmetic, not by the clamped len. When firmware sends short TLVs, the second and later slots are written past the end of the allocation. The reader in ath11k_pull_mac_phy_cap_svc_ready_ext() also indexes the buffer with full-struct pointer arithmetic, so the allocation must match that stride. Fix by using kzalloc_objs(), which derives the element size from the pointer type, making allocation size and pointer stride provably consistent regardless of what len the firmware provides. Compile tested only.
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
Not available: CISA has not published SSVC decision points for this record.
Affected products
Remediation
- Fix · CNA Linux (Linux) Fixed in 6.1.191, 6.6.160, 6.12.110, 6.18.52, 7.2.6, 7.3
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 OpenShift Container Platform 4 | Affected | No fix yet |
| Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 5 | Affected | No fix yet |
Not affected: 2 products
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-90398
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-vrcf-5rpv-m35r
- 2026-10-19 Fix available: Linux/[email protected] · CNA
- 2026-10-20 Affected versions changed · Red Hat
- 2026-10-20 CVSS score added · Red Hat
- 2026-10-21 Fix available: Linux/[email protected], Linux/Linux@b2ecd548f89a4a6c14b5eb4abc825f92b3068dda · CNA
- 2026-10-21 1 new reference · CNA
- 2026-10-29 CVSS score changed · Red Hat
- 2026-10-30 Affected versions changed · Red Hat
- 2026-10-30 Fix available: Linux/[email protected], Linux/Linux@deb14c9932509c0defaa0620c9ca8d20b385a6bd · CNA
- 2026-10-30 1 new reference · CNA
References
Other 6
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/deb14c9932509c0defaa0620c9ca8d20b385a6bd
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/b2ecd548f89a4a6c14b5eb4abc825f92b3068dda
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/bbb3b3334a9ed850c5b332eedea107796e691237
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/75185e2b214e842b7e0af29e5d1fef155662b8b1
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/acff2713c3212ade15051e7b421f15c89927e70f
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/7a246c72132eb943b5844ba79dad597b47429dba
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Sources
- CVE-2026-90398 · CVE Program
- CVE-2026-90398 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-vrcf-5rpv-m35r · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2026-90398 · Red Hat security data · CC BY 4.0
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