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wifi: mac80211: always free skb on ieee80211_tx_prepare_skb() failure

Type: advisorySource: Official CVE List1 source record

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: wifi: mac80211: always free skb on ieee80211_tx_prepare_skb() failure ieee80211_tx_prepare_skb() has three error paths, but only two of them free the skb. The first error path (ieee80211_tx_prepare() returning TX_DROP) does not free it, while invoke_tx_handlers() failure and the fragmentation check both do. Add kfree_skb() to the first error path so all three are consistent, and remove the now-redundant frees in callers (ath9k, mt76, mac80211_hwsim) to avoid double-free. Document the skb ownership guarantee in the function's kdoc.

Announced Group revision 1
Original source ↗

CVE-2026-23444

Primary source · Revision 1

Imported from structured advisory data. Source references identify upstream records or fields; verify affected versions and your deployed configuration.

Security context

Source reference: cve:CVE-2026-23444

Linux

Source reference: /containers/cna/affected/0/product

Affected versions
Not stated in this record
Fixed versions
Not stated in this record
Prerequisites
Not stated in this record

Linux

Source reference: /containers/cna/affected/1/product

Affected versions
Not stated in this record
Fixed versions
Not stated in this record
Prerequisites
Not stated in this record

Structured affected-version data

Original package identities and version rules from this source.

[
  {
    "repo": "https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git",
    "vendor": "Linux",
    "product": "Linux",
    "versions": [
      {
        "status": "affected",
        "version": "06be6b149f7e406bcf16098567f5a6c9f042bced",
        "lessThan": "905ef207d5ed99ca64adfe39fba9ac46e434327a",
        "versionType": "git"
      },
      {
        "status": "affected",
        "version": "06be6b149f7e406bcf16098567f5a6c9f042bced",
        "lessThan": "5ef8ca1c164786da24169af155c1ca1ff1353cf8",
        "versionType": "git"
      },
      {
        "status": "affected",
        "version": "06be6b149f7e406bcf16098567f5a6c9f042bced",
        "lessThan": "9a779d1f480e83720b5384adf165604e7ee226bd",
        "versionType": "git"
      },
      {
        "status": "affected",
        "version": "06be6b149f7e406bcf16098567f5a6c9f042bced",
        "lessThan": "f77b51bcee7be2bb686b5f7a2d4a1921e4bdb9f4",
        "versionType": "git"
      },
      {
        "status": "affected",
        "version": "06be6b149f7e406bcf16098567f5a6c9f042bced",
        "lessThan": "3b4d27acafaeab478fd24f79ad6e593a892828b9",
        "versionType": "git"
      },
      {
        "status": "affected",
        "version": "06be6b149f7e406bcf16098567f5a6c9f042bced",
        "lessThan": "06e769dddcbeb3baf2ce346273b53dd61fdbecf4",
        "versionType": "git"
      },
      {
        "status": "affected",
        "version": "06be6b149f7e406bcf16098567f5a6c9f042bced",
        "lessThan": "50f1b690b4868923fbd242298def2fb88662f108",
        "versionType": "git"
      },
      {
        "status": "affected",
        "version": "06be6b149f7e406bcf16098567f5a6c9f042bced",
        "lessThan": "d5ad6ab61cbd89afdb60881f6274f74328af3ee9",
        "versionType": "git"
      }
    ],
    "programFiles": [
      "drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath9k/channel.c",
      "drivers/net/wireless/mediatek/mt76/scan.c",
      "drivers/net/wireless/virtual/mac80211_hwsim.c",
      "include/net/mac80211.h",
      "net/mac80211/tx.c"
    ],
    "defaultStatus": "unaffected"
  },
  {
    "repo": "https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git",
    "vendor": "Linux",
    "product": "Linux",
    "versions": [
      {
        "status": "affected",
        "version": "3.13"
      },
      {
        "status": "unaffected",
        "version": "0",
        "lessThan": "3.13",
        "versionType": "semver"
      },
      {
        "status": "unaffected",
        "version": "5.10.258",
        "versionType": "semver",
        "lessThanOrEqual": "5.10.*"
      },
      {
        "status": "unaffected",
        "version": "5.15.209",
        "versionType": "semver",
        "lessThanOrEqual": "5.15.*"
      },
      {
        "status": "unaffected",
        "version": "6.1.175",
        "versionType": "semver",
        "lessThanOrEqual": "6.1.*"
      },
      {
        "status": "unaffected",
        "version": "6.6.136",
        "versionType": "semver",
        "lessThanOrEqual": "6.6.*"
      },
      {
        "status": "unaffected",
        "version": "6.12.84",
        "versionType": "semver",
        "lessThanOrEqual": "6.12.*"
      },
      {
        "status": "unaffected",
        "version": "6.18.20",
        "versionType": "semver",
        "lessThanOrEqual": "6.18.*"
      },
      {
        "status": "unaffected",
        "version": "6.19.10",
        "versionType": "semver",
        "lessThanOrEqual": "6.19.*"
      },
      {
        "status": "unaffected",
        "version": "7.0",
        "versionType": "original_commit_for_fix",
        "lessThanOrEqual": "*"
      }
    ],
    "programFiles": [
      "drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath9k/channel.c",
      "drivers/net/wireless/mediatek/mt76/scan.c",
      "drivers/net/wireless/virtual/mac80211_hwsim.c",
      "include/net/mac80211.h",
      "net/mac80211/tx.c"
    ],
    "defaultStatus": "affected"
  }
]
Related CVEs
CVE-2026-23444

Source reference: /cveMetadata/cveId

Publisher severity

high

Source reference: /containers/cna/metrics

Event
#39852 · Revision 1
Added to Heist Feed
Publisher date
Read the original announcement

Revision history

  1. CVE-2026-23444 · Revision 1Source updated