HIGH Introduced in 4.9
mac80211 NanReconfig UAF
CVE-2026-97492
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
01Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: wifi: mac80211: don't call ieee80211_handle_reconfig_failure when not needed In case reconfiguration of NAN fails, we call ieee80211_handle_reconfig_failure, that marks all interfaces as not in the driver. Then, at the error path of the reconfig, cfg80211_shutdown_all_interfaces is called to destroy all the interfaces. If we have any other interface but the NAN one, for example a BSS station, then when its state (links, stations) will be removed, we won't tell the driver about this, because we will think that the interfaces are not in the driver, and then drivers might remain with dangling pointers to objects like stations and links (at least for iwlwifi this is the case). ieee80211_handle_reconfig_failure is meant to be called after we cleaned up the state in the driver, there is no reason to call it for NAN reconfiguration failure. Fix the code to just warn in such a case, as we do in other error paths in reconfig where it is too complicated to rewind.
02KernelScan AI Analysis
Risk summary
Systems with WiFi hardware supporting NAN (such as Intel iwlwifi) are at risk when a hardware reconfiguration event occurs and NAN reconfiguration fails. The WiFi driver is left with dangling pointers to freed station and link objects, potentially leading to use-after-free memory corruption or kernel crashes. An attacker needs local access and the ability to trigger a WiFi hardware restart.
Vulnerability analysis
When WiFi hardware undergoes reconfiguration and the reconfiguration of a NAN (Neighbor Awareness Network) interface fails, the error handler incorrectly marks all wireless interfaces as no longer present in the driver. Subsequent cleanup of other active interfaces — such as a station connection — then skips notifying the driver about removed stations and links, because the stack believes the interfaces are already gone from the driver. This leaves the driver with dangling pointers to objects that have already been freed, which can cause a use-after-free when the driver later accesses them. The fix changes the NAN reconfiguration failure path to issue a warning instead of invoking the global reconfig failure handler, so that normal interface teardown can still properly notify the driver about state removal. This vulnerability is reachable on systems with WiFi hardware that supports NAN, requires a hardware reconfiguration event where NAN reconfiguration fails, and is triggered locally — the attacker needs the ability to cause a WiFi hardware restart, which can arise from privileged wireless configuration commands or from firmware-level events.
Lifecycle
03Fix Versions
| Branch | Introduced | Fixed in | Patch commit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5.10 | 4.9 | 5.10.271 | 026637b864b1 |
| 5.15 | 4.9 | 5.15.222 | 6ef85dd9f8c6 |
| 6.1 | 4.9 | 6.1.189 | f27a5bda84ff |
| 6.12 | 4.9 | 6.12.111 | 60b96e44489d |
| 6.18 | 4.9 | 6.18.53 | 6fb64029457c |
| mainline | 4.9 | 7.2 | 7a8a3ff28155 |
| cip/6.12 | 4.9 | 6.12.111-cip32 | 60b96e44489d |