Bug 2513299 (CVE-2026-68409)

Summary:	CVE-2026-68409 kernel: wifi: mac80211: defer link RX stats percpu free to RCU
Product:	[Other] Security Response	Reporter:	OSIDB Bzimport <bzimport>
Component:	vulnerability	Assignee:	Product Security <prodsec-ir-bot>
Status:	NEW ---	QA Contact:
Severity:	high	Docs Contact:
Priority:	high
Version:	unspecified	CC:	akhatavk, aos-team-art-private, asdas, dpaolell, jdelft, jupierce, lgarciaa, mbiarnes, ppalepu, ppostler, prdhamdh, rhel-process-autobot, sghai, sidsharm, suppawar, vlaad, watson-tool-maintainers
Target Milestone:	---	Keywords:	Security
Target Release:	---
Hardware:	All
OS:	Linux
Whiteboard:
Fixed In Version:		Doc Type:	---
Doc Text:	A flaw was found in the mac80211 Wi-Fi driver of the Linux kernel. When an MLO (Multi-Link Operation) link is removed, the RX statistics per-CPU buffer is freed immediately, while the link container is deferred to RCU (Read-Copy-Update). This timing issue can lead to a use-after-free vulnerability, where a reader might still access the freed memory. While difficult to exploit in practice, this could potentially lead to system instability or denial of service.	Story Points:	---
Clone Of:		Environment:
Last Closed:		Type:	---
Regression:	---	Mount Type:	---
Documentation:	---	CRM:
Verified Versions:		Category:	---
oVirt Team:	---	RHEL 7.3 requirements from Atomic Host:
Cloudforms Team:	---	Target Upstream Version:
Embargoed:

Description OSIDB Bzimport 2026-08-10 12:29:38 UTC

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

wifi: mac80211: defer link RX stats percpu free to RCU

sta_remove_link() frees a removed MLO link's RX stats percpu buffer right
away, but defers only the link container to RCU:

	sta_info_free_link(&alloc->info);
	kfree_rcu(alloc, rcu_head);

The RX fast path reads link_sta under rcu_read_lock and writes the percpu
stats. A reader that resolved link_sta before the removal keeps the
pointer. The container stays alive from the kfree_rcu, so the read still
works. But the percpu block it points to is already freed. This needs
uses_rss. That is when pcpu_rx_stats exists.

The full STA teardown frees the deflink stats only after
synchronize_net(). The link removal path had no such barrier. The race is
hard to win in practice, but the free should still wait for RCU.

Free the link together with its data from a single RCU callback, so the
percpu block is reclaimed only after readers drain.

Comment 12 Mauro Matteo Cascella 2026-08-21 20:46:08 UTC

Upstream advisory:
https://lore.kernel.org/linux-cve-announce/2026081050-CVE-2026-68409-4c77@gregkh/T/#u