Bug 2540546 (CVE-2026-97516)

Summary: CVE-2026-97516 kernel: wifi: rtw88: Add NULL check for chip->edcca_th in rtw_fw_adaptivity_result()
Product: [Other] Security Response Reporter: OSIDB Bzimport <bzimport>
Component: vulnerabilityAssignee: Product Security DevOps Team <prodsec-dev>
Status: NEW --- QA Contact:
Severity: low Docs Contact:
Priority: low    
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   
Whiteboard:
Fixed In Version: Doc Type: ---
Doc Text:
A flaw was found in the Linux kernel's rtw88 wireless driver. The driver fails to verify whether certain hardware configuration settings exist before accessing them during firmware adaptivity processing. On systems equipped with specific wireless chipsets, this flaw triggers a null pointer dereference that crashes the kernel, resulting in a Denial of Service (DoS).
 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 2026-09-24 17:11:23 UTC 
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

wifi: rtw88: Add NULL check for chip->edcca_th in rtw_fw_adaptivity_result()

It was recently reported that rtw_fw_adaptivity_result()
in fw.c dereferences rtwdev->chip->edcca_th without
a NULL check. The issue is that devices with the
8821CE chip don't define edcca_th in their chip
info. As a result, when rtw_fw_adaptivity_result()
tries to dereference it, the kernel triggers an oops.

Add a NULL check for edcca_th before dereferencing
it in rtw_fw_adaptivity_result() in fw.c. Placing
the check at the function entry avoids logging any
garbage values.

This change does not address the root cause for
this behavior, but it prevents the NULL dereference
and the resulting oops while a more permanent solution
is developed.

Tested on a 8822CE chip which defines edcca_th, so
this issue is not present on it, but it still uses
this driver and I can verify there are no regressions.
Comment 1 gkamathe 2026-09-28 17:07:06 UTC 
Upstream advisory:
https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/security/vulns.git/plain/cve/published/2026/CVE-2026-97516.mbox