CVE-2026-23444 (GCVE-0-2026-23444)

Vulnerability from cvelistv5 – Published: 2026-04-03 15:15 – Updated: 2026-04-13 06:07
VLAI?
Title
wifi: mac80211: always free skb on ieee80211_tx_prepare_skb() failure
Summary
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.
Severity ?
No CVSS data available.
Assigner
References
Impacted products
Vendor Product Version
Linux Linux Affected: 06be6b149f7e406bcf16098567f5a6c9f042bced , < 06e769dddcbeb3baf2ce346273b53dd61fdbecf4 (git)
Affected: 06be6b149f7e406bcf16098567f5a6c9f042bced , < 50f1b690b4868923fbd242298def2fb88662f108 (git)
Affected: 06be6b149f7e406bcf16098567f5a6c9f042bced , < d5ad6ab61cbd89afdb60881f6274f74328af3ee9 (git)
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    Linux Linux Affected: 3.13
Unaffected: 0 , < 3.13 (semver)
Unaffected: 6.18.20 , ≤ 6.18.* (semver)
Unaffected: 6.19.10 , ≤ 6.19.* (semver)
Unaffected: 7.0 , ≤ * (original_commit_for_fix)
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{
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          "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"
          ],
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            "include/net/mac80211.h",
            "net/mac80211/tx.c"
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          "vendor": "Linux",
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              "operator": "OR"
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      "descriptions": [
        {
          "lang": "en",
          "value": "In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\nwifi: mac80211: always free skb on ieee80211_tx_prepare_skb() failure\n\nieee80211_tx_prepare_skb() has three error paths, but only two of them\nfree the skb. The first error path (ieee80211_tx_prepare() returning\nTX_DROP) does not free it, while invoke_tx_handlers() failure and the\nfragmentation check both do.\n\nAdd kfree_skb() to the first error path so all three are consistent,\nand remove the now-redundant frees in callers (ath9k, mt76,\nmac80211_hwsim) to avoid double-free.\n\nDocument the skb ownership guarantee in the function\u0027s kdoc."
        }
      ],
      "providerMetadata": {
        "dateUpdated": "2026-04-13T06:07:34.818Z",
        "orgId": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67",
        "shortName": "Linux"
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      "references": [
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          "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/06e769dddcbeb3baf2ce346273b53dd61fdbecf4"
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          "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/50f1b690b4868923fbd242298def2fb88662f108"
        },
        {
          "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/d5ad6ab61cbd89afdb60881f6274f74328af3ee9"
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      ],
      "title": "wifi: mac80211: always free skb on ieee80211_tx_prepare_skb() failure",
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  "cveMetadata": {
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    "assignerShortName": "Linux",
    "cveId": "CVE-2026-23444",
    "datePublished": "2026-04-03T15:15:28.464Z",
    "dateReserved": "2026-01-13T15:37:46.019Z",
    "dateUpdated": "2026-04-13T06:07:34.818Z",
    "state": "PUBLISHED"
  },
  "dataType": "CVE_RECORD",
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  "vulnerability-lookup:meta": {
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      "date": "2026-04-17",
      "epss": "0.00022",
      "percentile": "0.05876"
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  }
}


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  • Seen: The vulnerability was mentioned, discussed, or observed by the user.
  • Confirmed: The vulnerability has been validated from an analyst's perspective.
  • Published Proof of Concept: A public proof of concept is available for this vulnerability.
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  • Not patched: The vulnerability was not observed as successfully patched by the user who reported the sighting.



Detection rules are retrieved from Rulezet.