CVE-2026-68191

What the bug is

When unbinding the ath12k driver, kernel NULL pointer dereferences occur in irq_work_sync() called from rhashtable_destroy(). Two hash tables are affected: 1. ath12k_link_sta hash table in ath12k_base 2. ath12k_dp_link_peer hash table in ath12k_dp The issue happens because the destroy functions are called unconditionally in cleanup paths, but the hash tables are only initialized late in their respective init functions. If the device was never fully started or if the init functions failed before initializing the hash tables, the pointers will be NULL. The issues are always reproducible from a VM because the MSI addressing initialization is failing. Call trace for ath12k_link_sta_rhash_tbl_destroy: RIP: irq_work_sync+0x1e/0x70 rhashtable_destroy+0x12/0x60 ath12k_link_sta_rhash_tbl_destroy+0x19/0x40 [ath12k] ath12k_core_stop+0xe/0x80 [ath12k] ath12k_core_hw_group_cleanup+0x6b/0xb0 [ath12k] ath12k_pci_remove+0x60/0x110 [ath12k] Call trace for ath12k_dp_link_peer_rhash_tbl_destroy: RIP: irq_work_sync+0x1e/0x70 rhashtable_destroy+0x12/0x60 ath12k_dp_link_peer_rhash_tbl_destroy+0x29/0x50 [ath12k] ath12k_dp_cmn_device_deinit+0x21/0x140 [ath12k] ath12k_core_hw_group_cleanup+0x6b/0xb0 [ath12k] ath12k_pci_remove+0x60/0x110 [ath12k] Fix this by adding NULL checks before calling rhashtable_destroy() in both destroy functions. The NULL check approach was chosen because the rhashtable pointer serves as the initialization state indicator. The init can fail at various points, leaving some components uninitialized. Checking the pointer directly is simpler than adding separate state flags that would need synchronization.

Where it lives

The fix touches these files. If the subsystem is one you do not use, the practical exposure is lower, though the package is still the vulnerable one.

drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath12k/dp_peer.c
drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath12k/peer.c

What this is

QUALCOMM ATH12K WIRELESS DRIVERMAINTAINERS section matched on drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath12k/ · linux-wireless@vger.kernel.org · Supported

Kernel module

ath12k

Check it on the machine

grep -wE 'CONFIG_ATH12K|CONFIG_WLAN|CONFIG_WLAN_VENDOR_ATH' /boot/config-$(uname -r)

Reads the booted kernel's own configuration, on the machine and nowhere else. =y is built in, =m is a module, and an is not set line means the code is not there.

lsmod | grep -w ath12k

Prints a line if that module is loaded right now, and nothing if it is not. One that is not loaded can still be loaded later by anything that needs it.

Show whether Debian builds this, per release

Debian builds this, but not on every flavour. At least one release below builds the code on some of its kernel flavours and not on others, so the answer depends on the architecture and flavour installed. The build rule could not be established for 1 release, so nothing is claimed about those.

• bookworm?
• trixieMnot built on amd64/cloud-amd64, arm64/cloud-arm64, armel/rpi, s390x/s390x
• forky, sidMnot built on amd64/cloud-amd64, arm64/cloud-arm64, s390x/s390x

?

not established - no Makefile entry for the affected file

M

a module where it is built at all; some flavours do not build it

Where a release above reads "not established", no build rule for the affected file was found in that release's kernel tree. That is a gap in this lookup, not a finding that the code is absent.

Build switches

CONFIG_ATH12K, CONFIG_WLAN, CONFIG_WLAN_VENDOR_ATH

Reads as

all on means the file is compiled; any one off means it is not.

From the configuration Debian publishes for every kernel flavour it builds. It covers only the architectures Debian ships a linux-config package for, and nothing about a kernel you built yourself. Debian's own status above stays authoritative about the source package.MAINTAINERS kbuild Makefiles Debian linux-config packages

Signals

Published

2026-08-10 (2 months ago)source

CVSS

no vector published, unrated

Attack vector

not published

EPSS

0.19%, higher than 8.0% of all CVEssource

CISA KEV

not listedthe KEV catalogue

Debian urgency

unimportantsource

Subsystem

drivers/net

Upstream fixes

The versions the CNA records as introducing and fixing this, and the commit for each. source

Introduced	Fixed in	Commit
7.0	7.1.6	17a4298f7794
7.0	7.2	70231dcd7822