CVE-2026-74409 (GCVE-0-2026-74409)

Vulnerability from cvelistv5 – Published: 2026-08-15 05:59 – Updated: 2026-08-17 05:46
VLAI
Title
wifi: rtw89: add bounds check on firmware mac_id in link lookup
Summary
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: wifi: rtw89: add bounds check on firmware mac_id in link lookup The mac_id field in RX descriptors is 8 bits wide (0-255), but assoc_link_on_macid[] has only RTW89_MAX_MAC_ID_NUM (128) entries. While the driver currently assigns mac_id values below 128, the descriptor value comes from firmware and is not validated before use as an array index. Add a defensive bounds check in rtw89_assoc_link_rcu_dereference() to guard against out-of-range firmware values.
Severity
8.8 (High)
CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Assigner
References
Impacted products
Vendor Product Version CPE status
Linux Linux Affected: 144c6cd24b3556e6e7a14271cee57a42ebf97450 , < ad445de67359f24088d4305c05fbd7e34c4e35e3 (git)
Affected: 144c6cd24b3556e6e7a14271cee57a42ebf97450 , < 920101305e7601a33b9e01019f4ca526af2526ae (git)
Affected: 144c6cd24b3556e6e7a14271cee57a42ebf97450 , < 6d88244bb129755acca696f9227200f4a2d106a6 (git)
guessed Create a notification for this product.
Linux Linux Affected: 6.14
Unaffected: 0 , < 6.14 (semver)
Unaffected: 6.18.40 , ≤ 6.18.* (semver)
Unaffected: 7.1.5 , ≤ 7.1.* (semver)
Unaffected: 7.2 , ≤ * (original_commit_for_fix)
guessed Create a notification for this product.
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{
  "containers": {
    "cna": {
      "affected": [
        {
          "defaultStatus": "unaffected",
          "product": "Linux",
          "programFiles": [
            "drivers/net/wireless/realtek/rtw89/core.h"
          ],
          "repo": "https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git",
          "vendor": "Linux",
          "versions": [
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              "status": "affected",
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              "versionType": "git"
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              "versionType": "git"
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              "versionType": "git"
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          "vendor": "Linux",
          "versions": [
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              "status": "affected",
              "version": "6.14"
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            {
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              "status": "unaffected",
              "version": "0",
              "versionType": "semver"
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              "status": "unaffected",
              "version": "6.18.40",
              "versionType": "semver"
            },
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              "status": "unaffected",
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              "versionType": "original_commit_for_fix"
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      "cpeApplicability": [
        {
          "nodes": [
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                  "vulnerable": true
                },
                {
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              ],
              "negate": false,
              "operator": "OR"
            }
          ]
        }
      ],
      "descriptions": [
        {
          "lang": "en",
          "value": "In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\nwifi: rtw89: add bounds check on firmware mac_id in link lookup\n\nThe mac_id field in RX descriptors is 8 bits wide (0-255), but\nassoc_link_on_macid[] has only RTW89_MAX_MAC_ID_NUM (128) entries.\nWhile the driver currently assigns mac_id values below 128, the\ndescriptor value comes from firmware and is not validated before use\nas an array index. Add a defensive bounds check in\nrtw89_assoc_link_rcu_dereference() to guard against out-of-range\nfirmware values."
        }
      ],
      "metrics": [
        {
          "cvssV3_1": {
            "baseScore": 8.8,
            "baseSeverity": "HIGH",
            "vectorString": "CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H",
            "version": "3.1"
          },
          "scenarios": [
            {
              "lang": "en",
              "value": "AV:A - The bug is reached when rtw89 processes WiFi RX descriptors or firmware C2H events whose mac_id is taken from device firmware after over-the-air frame reception; per kernel CNA guidance, WiFi driver bugs exploitable via injected/received 802.11 frames are Adjacent, not local or physical.\nAC:L - An adjacent attacker can repeatedly send 802.11 frames (client or softAP role) to drive normal PCI/USB RX and firmware notification paths; no rare victim state, secret, or uncontrollable memory layout is required beyond having WiFi active on an affected rtw89 device.\nPR:N - Exploitation requires only radio-range WiFi access to a victim using the rtw89 driver; the attacker needs no local shell account, kernel capability, or init-namespace root on the target system.\nUI:N - No victim interaction is required at exploitation time; once the interface is operating, malicious over-the-air traffic alone can populate firmware RX/C2H metadata with an out-of-range mac_id and hit the vulnerable lookup.\nS:U - Impact is confined to kernel/driver memory corruption and crashes on the host running rtw89; it does not cross a VM, container, or IOMMU security boundary into another authority.\nC:H - Using an unvalidated firmware mac_id (up to 255, or wider in C2H) as an index performs an out-of-bounds read of assoc_link_on_macid[], interpreting adjacent rtw89_dev fields as a station pointer and enabling further unintended kernel memory reads.\nI:H - The out-of-bounds pointer is dereferenced and used for writes and callbacks (e.g., tid_rx_stats updates, PS flag changes, ieee80211_sta_ps_transition/uapsd), giving memory corruption primitives that could be developed into arbitrary kernel write or code execution.\nA:H - Dereferencing attacker-influenced out-of-bounds pointers from assoc_link_on_macid[] can immediately trigger kernel oops/panic or hang during RX processing on production WiFi clients, softAPs, and hotspots using affected Realtek rtw89 hardware."
            }
          ]
        }
      ],
      "providerMetadata": {
        "dateUpdated": "2026-08-17T05:46:52.696Z",
        "orgId": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67",
        "shortName": "Linux"
      },
      "references": [
        {
          "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/ad445de67359f24088d4305c05fbd7e34c4e35e3"
        },
        {
          "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/920101305e7601a33b9e01019f4ca526af2526ae"
        },
        {
          "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/6d88244bb129755acca696f9227200f4a2d106a6"
        }
      ],
      "title": "wifi: rtw89: add bounds check on firmware mac_id in link lookup",
      "x_generator": {
        "engine": "bippy-1.2.0"
      }
    }
  },
  "cveMetadata": {
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    "assignerShortName": "Linux",
    "cveId": "CVE-2026-74409",
    "datePublished": "2026-08-15T05:59:17.361Z",
    "dateReserved": "2026-08-15T05:44:03.892Z",
    "dateUpdated": "2026-08-17T05:46:52.696Z",
    "state": "PUBLISHED"
  },
  "dataType": "CVE_RECORD",
  "dataVersion": "5.2",
  "vulnerability-lookup:meta": {
    "epss": {
      "cve": "CVE-2026-74409",
      "date": "2026-09-22",
      "epss": "0.0024",
      "percentile": "0.15337"
    },
    "nvd": {
      "cve": {
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          {
            "affectedData": [
              {
                "defaultStatus": "unaffected",
                "product": "Linux",
                "programFiles": [
                  "drivers/net/wireless/realtek/rtw89/core.h"
                ],
                "repo": "https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git",
                "vendor": "Linux",
                "versions": [
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                "defaultStatus": "affected",
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                "vendor": "Linux",
                "versions": [
                  {
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                  },
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                    "version": "0",
                    "versionType": "semver"
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                    "version": "6.18.40",
                    "versionType": "semver"
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                    "status": "unaffected",
                    "version": "7.1.5",
                    "versionType": "semver"
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                    "versionType": "original_commit_for_fix"
                  }
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              }
            ],
            "source": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67"
          }
        ],
        "cveTags": [],
        "descriptions": [
          {
            "lang": "en",
            "value": "In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\nwifi: rtw89: add bounds check on firmware mac_id in link lookup\n\nThe mac_id field in RX descriptors is 8 bits wide (0-255), but\nassoc_link_on_macid[] has only RTW89_MAX_MAC_ID_NUM (128) entries.\nWhile the driver currently assigns mac_id values below 128, the\ndescriptor value comes from firmware and is not validated before use\nas an array index. Add a defensive bounds check in\nrtw89_assoc_link_rcu_dereference() to guard against out-of-range\nfirmware values."
          }
        ],
        "id": "CVE-2026-74409",
        "lastModified": "2026-08-17T06:19:36.240",
        "metrics": {
          "cvssMetricV31": [
            {
              "cvssData": {
                "attackComplexity": "LOW",
                "attackVector": "ADJACENT_NETWORK",
                "availabilityImpact": "HIGH",
                "baseScore": 8.8,
                "baseSeverity": "HIGH",
                "confidentialityImpact": "HIGH",
                "integrityImpact": "HIGH",
                "privilegesRequired": "NONE",
                "scope": "UNCHANGED",
                "userInteraction": "NONE",
                "vectorString": "CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H",
                "version": "3.1"
              },
              "exploitabilityScore": 2.8,
              "impactScore": 5.9,
              "source": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67",
              "type": "Secondary"
            }
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        },
        "published": "2026-08-15T06:22:42.950",
        "references": [
          {
            "source": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67",
            "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/6d88244bb129755acca696f9227200f4a2d106a6"
          },
          {
            "source": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67",
            "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/920101305e7601a33b9e01019f4ca526af2526ae"
          },
          {
            "source": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67",
            "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/ad445de67359f24088d4305c05fbd7e34c4e35e3"
          }
        ],
        "sourceIdentifier": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67",
        "vulnStatus": "Received"
      }
    },
    "redhat_vex": {
      "aggregate_severity": "Moderate",
      "current_release_date": "2026-08-20T22:17:50+00:00",
      "cve": "CVE-2026-74409",
      "id": "CVE-2026-74409",
      "initial_release_date": "2026-08-15T00:00:00+00:00",
      "product_status:known_affected": "184",
      "product_status:known_not_affected": "90",
      "source": "Red Hat CSAF VEX",
      "status": "final",
      "title": "kernel: wifi: rtw89: add bounds check on firmware mac_id in link lookup",
      "url": "https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/2026/cve-2026-74409.json",
      "version": "3"
    }
  }
}



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  • Seen: The vulnerability was mentioned, discussed, or observed by the user.
  • Confirmed: The vulnerability has been validated from an analyst's perspective.
  • Published Proof of Concept: A public proof of concept is available for this vulnerability.
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  • Not patched: The vulnerability was not observed as successfully patched by the user who reported the sighting.



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