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CVE-2026-68352
wifi: ath6kl: fix OOB read from firmware IE lengths in connect event
Published 2026-08-10 (2 months ago) by the Linux kernel CNA. Subsystem drivers/net. Debian urgency: not yet assigned.
What to do, per Debian release
Debian's own status for CVE-2026-68352 in every release this site tracks, and what each one means in practice. Every status below is the one the Debian Security Team publishes for this CVE. source
| Release | Status | Version | What this means |
|---|---|---|---|
| Debian 12bookworm | fixedDLA-4777-1 · 2026-09-08 · text | 6.1.187-1 | Update the kernel and reboot. DLA-4777-1 shipped the fix on 2026-09-08, in 6.1.187-1. A running kernel keeps the old code until the machine restarts. |
| Debian 13trixie | fixed | 6.12.101-1 | Update the kernel and reboot. Fixed in 6.12.101-1. A running kernel keeps the old code until the machine restarts. |
| Debian 14forky | fixed | 7.1.6-1 | Update the kernel and reboot. Fixed in 7.1.6-1. A running kernel keeps the old code until the machine restarts. |
| Debian unstablesid | fixed | 7.1.6-1 | Update the kernel and reboot. Fixed in 7.1.6-1. A running kernel keeps the old code until the machine restarts. |
| Debian 12bookworm · linux-6.12 | fixedDLA-4745-1 · 2026-08-18 · text | 6.12.101-1~deb12u1 | Update the kernel and reboot. DLA-4745-1 shipped the fix on 2026-08-18, in 6.12.101-1~deb12u1. A running kernel keeps the old code until the machine restarts. |
The vulnerability
What the bug is
The firmware-controlled beacon_ie_len, assoc_req_len, and assoc_resp_len fields in ath6kl_wmi_connect_event_rx() are not validated against the buffer length. Their sum (up to 765) can exceed the actual WMI event data, causing out-of-bounds reads during IE parsing and state corruption of wmi->is_wmm_enabled. Add a check that the total IE length fits within the buffer.
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/ath6kl/wmi.c
- What this is
- ATHEROS ATH6KL WIRELESS DRIVERMAINTAINERS section matched on drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath6kl/ · linux-wireless@vger.kernel.org · Orphan
- Kernel module
- ath6kl_core
Check it on the machine
grep -wE 'CONFIG_ATH6KL|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 ath6kl_corePrints 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.
- bookwormMnot built on amd64/cloud-amd64, arm64/cloud-arm64
- trixie, forky, sidMnot built on amd64/cloud-amd64, arm64/cloud-arm64, s390x/s390x
- bookworm · linux-6.12Mnot built on amd64/cloud-amd64, arm64/cloud-arm64
- M
- a module where it is built at all; some flavours do not build it
- Build switches
- CONFIG_ATH6KL, 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
- 8.3 high
CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:L/A:Hsource recompute it - Attack vector
- adjacent network (AV:A)source
- EPSS
- 0.41%, higher than 34.1% of all CVEssource
- CISA KEV
- not listedthe KEV catalogue
- Debian urgency
- not yet assignedsource
- 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 3.2 | 5.10.265 | 7cae33e3e09a |
| 3.2 | 5.15.216 | 1eeed9efc9a4 |
| 3.2 | 6.1.183 | a38d7d6376b2 |
| 3.2 | 6.6.148 | 1c690f7c4c5b |
| 3.2 | 6.12.101 | d70c0a850c21 |
| 3.2 | 6.18.42 | 33b5342d2080 |
| 3.2 | 7.1.6 | 94e1bfcefe82 |
| 3.2 | 7.2 | 6b47b29730de |
Debian advisories
| Advisory | Date | Shipped to | Debian |
|---|---|---|---|
| DLA-4777-1 | 2026-09-08 | bookworm 6.1.187-1 | tracker |
| DLA-4745-1 | 2026-08-18 | bookworm 6.12.101-1~deb12u1 | tracker |
Why the CNA scored it this way
Quoted from the kernel CNA's own scoring file, word for word. A highlighted metric carries the most severe value CVSS v3.1 defines for it, which is what pushes the score up. source
- AV:AAttack vector, adjacent network
- The malformed connect event is produced from the 802.11 association exchange with the peer AP, so a rogue/evil-twin AP or frame-injecting attacker within radio range of the ath6kl station supplies the oversized IE lengths; no local access is needed but the attacker must share the wireless link layer.
- AC:LAttack complexity, low
- The attacker controls the beacon/assoc-request/assoc-response IE content and declared lengths and can force repeated (re)association or roaming with deauth frames until the connect event is emitted, so triggering is reliable and repeatable with no conditions outside the attacker's control.
- PR:NPrivileges required, none
- No credentials or local account are required; the connect event is processed as part of establishing the link with an attacker-controlled AP, before any user-level authorization on the victim system is involved.
- UI:NUser interaction, none
- No victim action is needed — a station with a saved profile auto-associates, and the SME_CONNECTED roam path (cfg80211_roamed) processes the same event while the station is already connected, entirely attacker-driven.
- S:UScope, unchanged
- The out-of-bounds read, the corrupted wmi->is_wmm_enabled state and any resulting crash are all confined to the kernel of the affected host; no VM, IOMMU or sandbox boundary is crossed.
- C:HConfidentiality impact, high
- Up to 765 bytes of adjacent kernel heap past the WMI event buffer are read and then exported to userspace: copied into the cfg80211 BSS IE cache (readable via unprivileged nl80211 GET_SCAN) and delivered as req_ie/resp_ie in cfg80211_connect_result()/cfg80211_roamed(), a repeatable kernel memory disclosure rather than a few stray bytes.
- I:LIntegrity impact, low
- There is no out-of-bounds write, but out-of-bounds bytes drive driver state: wmi->is_wmm_enabled is set from memory beyond the buffer and bogus IE data is inserted into the cfg80211 BSS cache, giving limited attacker-influenced modification of kernel-held data.
- A:HAvailability impact, high
- The IE walk dereferences up to 765 bytes past the received skb and can run off the end of the allocation into unmapped memory (or trip KASAN/DEBUG_PAGEALLOC), producing a kernel oops/panic that the adjacent attacker can retrigger at will.