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CVE-2026-68469
wifi: mwifiex: fix permanently busy scans after multiple roam iterations
Published 2026-08-15 (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-2026-68469 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 | fixed | 6.1.180-1 | Update the kernel and reboot. Fixed in 6.1.180-1. A running kernel keeps the old code until the machine restarts. |
| Debian 13trixie | fixed | 6.12.100-1 | Update the kernel and reboot. Fixed in 6.12.100-1. A running kernel keeps the old code until the machine restarts. |
| Debian 14forky | fixed | 7.1.5-1 | Update the kernel and reboot. Fixed in 7.1.5-1. A running kernel keeps the old code until the machine restarts. |
| Debian unstablesid | fixed | 7.1.5-1 | Update the kernel and reboot. Fixed in 7.1.5-1. A running kernel keeps the old code until the machine restarts. |
The vulnerability
What the bug is
In order for the firmware to sleep, the driver has to confirm a previously received sleep request. The normal sequence of evets goes like this: EVENT_SLEEP -> adapter->ps_state = PS_STATE_PRE_SLEEP -> sleep-confirm -> SLEEP -> EVENT_AWAKE -> AWAKE. Before sending the sleep-confirm command, the driver must make sure there are no commands either running or waiting to be completed. mwifiex_ret_802_11_associate() unconditionally sets ps_state = PS_STATE_AWAKE when it processes the association command response, outside of the normal powersave management flow. If EVENT_SLEEP arrives while the association command is in flight, ps_state is PRE_SLEEP when the association command response is parsed, and the forced AWAKE overwrites it. The deferred sleep-confirm is never sent. A subsequent scan_start command is correctly acknowledged, but the firmware doesn't generate scan_result events. The scan request never finishes, and additional requests from userspace fail with -EBUSY. After testing on both IW412 and W8997, I could only trigger the bug on the IW412 and observed the firmwares behave differently. On the IW412 the firmware still sends EVENT_SLEEP while the authentication / association process is ongoing. A W8997 under the same conditions seems to suppress power-save for the duration of the association, so PRE_SLEEP never coincided with the association response even after extended periods of testing using the loops described below (>12hours). On the IW412, the delay between commands that triggers an EVENT_SLEEP was empirically determined to be ~20ms. This delay can naturally occur when the driver is outputting debugging information (debug_mask = 0x00000037), in which situation the busy scans issue is repeatable while running "test 1)" as described below. If the delay between commands is less than ~20ms, the firmware stays awake and the issue was not reproducible running the same test. The host_mlme=false path also behaves differently. In this case, the entire authentication / association transaction is executed by one command (HostCmd_CMD_802_11_ASSOCIATE), and the firmware doesn't emit EVENT_SLEEP while the command is running. Remove the assignment so the ps_state is only manipulated in the paths that are related to powersave event handling and on the main workqueue for correct sleep confirmation. The following loop tests were performed (with debugging output enabled): 1) force roaming between two AP's, one 5GHz and one 2.4GHz, same SSID. Use wpa_cli to trigger the roaming behavior, sleep 2s between iterations. 2) force a disconnection to AP 1 and a connection to AP 2, test scan. Use wpa_cli to trigger the connection changes, sleep 2s between iterations. Each test ran in each device for at least 3 hours.
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/marvell/mwifiex/join.c
- What this is
- MARVELL MWIFIEX WIRELESS DRIVERMAINTAINERS section matched on drivers/net/wireless/marvell/mwifiex/ · linux-wireless@vger.kernel.org · Odd Fixes
- Kernel module
- mwifiex
Check it on the machine
grep -wE 'CONFIG_MWIFIEX|CONFIG_WLAN|CONFIG_WLAN_VENDOR_MARVELL' /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 mwifiexPrints 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, armhf/armmp, armhf/armmp-lpae, armhf/rt/armmp
- trixieMnot built on amd64/cloud-amd64, arm64/cloud-arm64, armel/rpi, riscv64/riscv64, s390x/s390x
- forky, sidMnot built on amd64/cloud-amd64, arm64/cloud-arm64, loong64/loong64, riscv64/riscv64, s390x/s390x
- M
- a module where it is built at all; some flavours do not build it
- Build switches
- CONFIG_MWIFIEX, CONFIG_WLAN, CONFIG_WLAN_VENDOR_MARVELL
- 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
- 2026-08-15 (2 months ago)source
- CVSS
- no vector published, unrated
- Attack vector
- not published
- EPSS
- 0.26%, higher than 17.0% 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 3.0 | 5.10.261 | 2ed36b2586f1 |
| 3.0 | 5.15.212 | 5796eabe435d |
| 3.0 | 6.1.178 | 31a2c409f8f5 |
| 3.0 | 6.6.145 | deb5f0ae384f |
| 3.0 | 6.12.97 | 1bc55db2d347 |
| 3.0 | 6.18.40 | a59cfa165aee |
| 3.0 | 7.1.5 | 6126e12bf8c8 |
| 3.0 | 7.2 | d78a407bad6f |
Why the CNA scored it this way
The kernel CNA published no CVSS vector and no reasoning for CVE-2026-68469, which is why it is shown as unrated rather than given an invented score. 6,405 of the 20,413 CVEs here carry reasoning; this is not one of them.