Bug 2540380 (CVE-2026-93805)

Summary: CVE-2026-93805 kernel: wifi: cfg80211: validate rx/tx MLME callback frame lengths before access
Product: [Other] Security Response Reporter: OSIDB Bzimport <bzimport>
Component: vulnerabilityAssignee: Product Security DevOps Team <prodsec-dev>
Status: NEW --- QA Contact:
Severity: medium Docs Contact:
Priority: medium    
Version: unspecifiedCC: 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   
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Doc Text:
A flaw was found in the Linux kernel's cfg80211 wireless subsystem. The kernel fails to properly validate the length of wireless management frames before accessing subtype-specific data fields. An attacker within wireless range could exploit this flaw by transmitting malformed, truncated management frames, causing an out-of-bounds read. This can result in a system crash, causing a Denial of Service (DoS), or potentially lead to the exposure of sensitive kernel memory.
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oVirt Team: --- RHEL 7.3 requirements from Atomic Host:
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Description OSIDB Bzimport 2026-09-24 16:35:51 UTC
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

wifi: cfg80211: validate rx/tx MLME callback frame lengths before access

cfg80211_rx_mlme_mgmt() and cfg80211_tx_mlme_mgmt() call tracepoints
before rejecting frames shorter than the frame-control field. After
that, they only require len >= 2 before dispatching into subtype
handlers that assume their fixed fields are present.

The frames that trip this are not shorter than 2 bytes; they are short
relative to their subtype. mwifiex is a concrete in-tree example on the
length side: mwifiex_process_mgmt_packet() only requires a 4-address
ieee80211_hdr plus the 2-byte firmware length prefix before handing the
frame to cfg80211_rx_mlme_mgmt(). After stripping the length prefix and
removing addr4, pkt_len can be exactly 24: a bare 3-address management
header with no reason-code body. The existing WARN_ON(len < 2) does not
fire on such a frame, and cfg80211_process_deauth() then reads
u.deauth.reason_code as a two-byte access starting at offset 24,
immediately past the 24-byte buffer.

Add a frame-control length gate, then validate each subtype's minimum
frame size in an if/else-if chain that mirrors the dispatch logic. Trace
only after the frame is known to be well-formed.

Side effects of this change:
 - The WARN_ON(len < 2) is dropped. It only guarded the frame_control
   read, never the subtype fixed fields, and it does not fire on the
   frames that actually trigger the out-of-bounds read (which are >= 2).
   The len >= 2 check is kept as the guard before dereferencing
   frame_control, but without the warning: these are exported callbacks
   and a malformed frame from a driver should be dropped silently rather
   than backtraced.
 - cfg80211_tx_mlme_mgmt() previously routed every non-deauth subtype
   through disassociation handling; it now silently ignores unrecognised
   subtypes.