CVE-2026-68402
HighCVSS 7.1Exploitation Probability (EPSS)
Low risk18th percentile - higher than 18% of all known CVEs
Summary
In the Linux kernel's cfg80211 subsystem, there is an out-of-bounds read (slab-out-of-bounds) when checking element inheritance if an extension element has zero length. This can be triggered by a crafted frame from an AP.
Risk Assessment
An attacker could exploit this vulnerability to cause a system crash or potentially leak kernel memory information.
Recommendation
Apply the Linux kernel update containing the fix that adds an early return for extension elements with no data.
Original NVD description (English source)
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: wifi: cfg80211: bound element ID read when checking non-inheritance cfg80211_is_element_inherited() reads the first data octet of the candidate element (id = elem->data[0]) to look it up in an extension non-inheritance list. It does so after testing elem->id, but without verifying that the element actually has a data octet. A zero-length extension element (WLAN_EID_EXTENSION with length 0) therefore makes it read one octet past the end of the element. _ieee802_11_parse_elems_full() runs this check for every element of a frame once a non-inheritance context exists -- e.g. while parsing a per-STA profile of a Multi-Link element in a (re)association response, or a non-transmitted BSS profile -- so a crafted frame from an AP can trigger a one-octet slab-out-of-bounds read during element parsing: BUG: KASAN: slab-out-of-bounds in cfg80211_is_element_inherited Read of size 1 ... in net/wireless/scan.c Return early (treat the element as inherited) when an extension element carries no data, mirroring the existing handling of empty ID lists. The bug was found by fuzzing ieee802_11_parse_elems_full() under KASAN.