Out-of-bounds read in Linux cw1200 Wi-Fi driver leaks heap data
Key facts
- Attack vector
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- Privileges required
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- User interaction
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- Attack complexity
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- Impact type
- —
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
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- Fix status
- Partial Red Hat: 1 without a fix
No CVSS vector from any source. Fix status from CNA and Red Hat.
Summary
The Linux kernel cw1200 Wi-Fi driver is affected from 3.11 before the fixed releases. The TX path pads transfer sizes to the bus alignment but reads that padding from a frame buffer with no reserved room, so the read runs past the end of the frame. A malicious device on the bus can collect up to 511 bytes of kernel heap data per transmitted frame over SDIO.
Written with Claude Haiku 5.5 from the sources below · 2026-10-30
Description from the CNA
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: wifi: cw1200: fix TX padding OOB read leaking heap data to device The TX path rounds the transfer size up to the bus alignment (align_size(), up to 511 bytes for SDIO, 1 byte for SPI) but sends the padded length straight from the frame buffer, which has no room reserved for the padding. cw1200_data_write() therefore reads past the end of the frame and the bus transfer carries those bytes to the device. A bogus device can collect up to 511 bytes of kernel heap data per TX frame. The RX path does not have this problem: it allocates the skb with the aligned length (alloc_len) before reading. Compute the exact padding with the bus align_size() callback, make sure queued TX frames have tailroom for it, and zero the padding bytes before the transfer so nothing past the frame is exposed. This is not expected to change driver behavior on most cases: frame contents and transfer sizes are unchanged, only the content of the padding bytes (previously undefined stale memory, now zero), which the device never reads since the WSM header carries the real frame length. The skb expansion can only fail under memory exhaustion, in which case the frame is dropped like on the existing error paths of cw1200_tx(). Discovered by Atuin - Automated Vulnerability Discovery Engine.
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
Not available: CISA has not published SSVC decision points for this record.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Linux | Linux | 3.11 and later | 5.10.273, 5.15.224, 6.1.191, 6.6.160, 6.12.113, 6.18.56, 7.2.10, 7.3 | Patch available | CNA |
- Linux VendorLinux Affected 3.11 and later Fixed in 5.10.273, 5.15.224, 6.1.191, 6.6.160, 6.12.113, 6.18.56, 7.2.10, 7.3 Patch available CNA
Remediation
Update the Linux kernel to 5.10.273, 5.15.224, 6.1.191, 6.6.160, 6.12.113, 6.18.56, 7.2.10 or 7.3, or to a release that includes the fixing commits listed in the affected data. Red Hat lists Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 as affected without a fix and gives no fix plan.
Written with Claude Haiku 5.5 from the sources below · 2026-10-30
- Fix · CNA Linux (Linux) Fixed in 5.10.273, 5.15.224, 6.1.191, 6.6.160, 6.12.113, 6.18.56, 7.2.10, 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: Fix deferred |
Timeline
- 2026-10-18 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-98711
- 2026-10-18 Alias added: GHSA-rfqv-xwf2-63qv
- 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@b66539a4dab128fafaad736b53ce15c19d14d561 · CNA
- 2026-10-21 1 new reference · CNA
- 2026-10-30 Fix available: Linux/[email protected], Linux/[email protected], Linux/Linux@5897945635aa5413595bf696127493be96c08e2d +3 · CNA
- 2026-10-30 3 new references · CNA
References
Other 8
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/8e8e4d0b15f174d964a48b1c54dc8828e5ae87c5
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/a7eae7547ae1443bfbca2cb90d3ef5e501d6445c
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/5897945635aa5413595bf696127493be96c08e2d
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/b66539a4dab128fafaad736b53ce15c19d14d561
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/71f693a0ecccf36532dd2790f7969da6c71d5d23
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/b0e97bd40e0c2cb1a3530ef8f6250aacf3224515
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/678c8f4ba285649d5418a858d5d4f30c728a54ad
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/7c1611780823b76219cb1478db53dfd890c4a9a2
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Sources
- CVE-2026-98711 · CVE Program
- CVE-2026-98711 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-rfqv-xwf2-63qv · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2026-98711 · 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