Bug 2513459 (CVE-2026-68197)

Summary: CVE-2026-68197 kernel: wifi: mwifiex: fix NULL dereference when the AP has HT-cap but no HT-oper
Product: [Other] Security Response Reporter: OSIDB Bzimport <bzimport>
Component: vulnerabilityAssignee: Product Security <prodsec-ir-bot>
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Priority: medium    
Version: unspecifiedCC: rhel-process-autobot, watson-tool-maintainers
Target Milestone: ---Keywords: Security
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Hardware: All   
OS: Linux   
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A flaw was found in the Linux kernel's mwifiex Wi-Fi driver. A remote attacker could exploit this by configuring a malicious Access Point (AP) that advertises HT Capabilities but lacks HT Operation elements. When a system attempts to set up a Tunneled Direct Link Setup (TDLS) connection, a NULL pointer dereference occurs. This can lead to a kernel crash, resulting in a Denial of Service (DoS).
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Description OSIDB Bzimport 2026-08-10 12:38:33 UTC
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

wifi: mwifiex: fix NULL dereference when the AP has HT-cap but no HT-oper

mwifiex_tdls_add_ht_oper() gates its follow-the-AP-bandwidth path on
bss_desc->bcn_ht_cap being present, but then dereferences a different
pointer, bss_desc->bcn_ht_oper:

	if (ISSUPP_CHANWIDTH40(priv->adapter->hw_dot_11n_dev_cap) &&
	    bss_desc->bcn_ht_cap &&
	    ISALLOWED_CHANWIDTH40(bss_desc->bcn_ht_oper->ht_param))

bcn_ht_cap and bcn_ht_oper are populated independently while parsing the
associated AP's beacon in mwifiex_update_bss_desc_with_ie(): an AP that
advertises an HT Capabilities element but no HT Operation element leaves
bcn_ht_cap non-NULL and bcn_ht_oper NULL. Setting up a TDLS link to a
peer while associated to such an AP then dereferences the NULL
bcn_ht_oper and crashes the kernel. Every other bcn_ht_oper user in the
driver NULL-checks it first.

Guard on the pointer that is actually dereferenced.

Found by 0sec automated security-research tooling (https://0sec.ai).

Comment 1 Mauro Matteo Cascella 2026-08-11 11:09:15 UTC
Upstream advisory:
https://lore.kernel.org/linux-cve-announce/2026081010-CVE-2026-68197-fa1a@gregkh/T