5.5

CVE-2026-23279: wifi: mac80211: fix NULL pointer dereference in mesh_rx_csa_frame()

Modified
AliasesUBUNTU-CVE-2026-23279DEBIAN-CVE-2026-23279
Published 25-03-2026Last modified 15-10-2026

Vulnerability summary

CVE-2026-23279 is a medium (CVSS 5.5) NULL Pointer Dereference vulnerability in linux. EPSS estimates a 0.14% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 3.7% of scored vulnerabilities.

Priority
Routine

Not severe (CVSS 5.5, local access); no exploitation reported by the 5 checked sources

Source freshness unavailable

How is this decided?
CVSS score
5.5/10
010
Medium · v3.1 (NVD)
EPSS score
0.14%
0%100%
Low · +0.01 pp in 30 days
KEVNot listedNot listed by any tracked catalog.
RansomwareNot flaggedNo ransomware use recorded.
Public exploits0No public exploits recorded

Advisory lineage

Upstream 0 · Downstream 32 · Related 30
MGASA-2026-0097MGASA-2026-0098SUSE-SU-2026:21834-1SUSE-SU-2026:2238-1SUSE-SU-2026:2450-1USN-8567-1

Timeline

  1. 25-03-2026
    PublishedVulnerability first disclosed.
  2. 15-10-2026
    Last modifiedVulnerability information updated.

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: wifi: mac80211: fix NULL pointer dereference in mesh_rx_csa_frame() In mesh_rx_csa_frame(), elems->mesh_chansw_params_ie is dereferenced at lines 1638 and 1642 without a prior NULL check: ifmsh->chsw_ttl = elems->mesh_chansw_params_ie->mesh_ttl; ... pre_value = le16_to_cpu(elems->mesh_chansw_params_ie->mesh_pre_value); The mesh_matches_local() check above only validates the Mesh ID, Mesh Configuration, and Supported Rates IEs. It does not verify the presence of the Mesh Channel Switch Parameters IE (element ID 118). When a received CSA action frame omits that IE, ieee802_11_parse_elems() leaves elems->mesh_chansw_params_ie as NULL, and the unconditional dereference causes a kernel NULL pointer dereference. A remote mesh peer with an established peer link (PLINK_ESTAB) can trigger this by sending a crafted SPECTRUM_MGMT/CHL_SWITCH action frame that includes a matching Mesh ID and Mesh Configuration IE but omits the Mesh Channel Switch Parameters IE. No authentication beyond the default open mesh peering is required. Crash confirmed on kernel 6.17.0-5-generic via mac80211_hwsim: BUG: kernel NULL pointer dereference, address: 0000000000000000 Oops: Oops: 0000 [#1] SMP NOPTI RIP: 0010:ieee80211_mesh_rx_queued_mgmt+0x143/0x2a0 [mac80211] CR2: 0000000000000000 Fix by adding a NULL check for mesh_chansw_params_ie after mesh_matches_local() returns, consistent with how other optional IEs are guarded throughout the mesh code. The bug has been present since v3.13 (released 2014-01-19).

CVSS metrics

3 scores · 3 sources · 1 version

EPSS trend

Probability

0.14%

Chance of exploitation in the next 30 days

Percentile

4%

Versus all other CVEs

30-day change

Increase +0.01 pp

From 0.14% on 04-10-2026

04-10-202603-11-2026

Known exploited

Compare KEV catalogs
CISA KEV

Not in the CISA KEV catalog.

ENISA CNW

Not in the ENISA CNW catalog.

CIRCL

Not in the CIRCL catalog.

Public exploits

0 found

No public exploits indexed.

Weaknesses

CWE · root cause

Affected systems

Version check

Known conditions: local access, low-privilege account, no user interaction (CVSS vector). Other conditions: not stated in public data.

Ubuntu157 products
  • linuxAll versions (No fix recorded) | < 5.15.0-186.196 | < 6.8.0-136.136
  • linux-allwinner-5.19All versions (No fix recorded)
  • linux-awsAll versions (No fix recorded) | < 5.15.0-1112.119 | < 6.8.0-1061.64
  • linux-aws-5.0All versions (No fix recorded)
  • linux-aws-5.11All versions (No fix recorded)
Linux2 products
  • linux≥ 8f2535b92d685c68db4bc699dd78462a646f6ef9, < 753ad20dcbe36b67088c7770d8fc357d7cc43e08 | ≥ 8f2535b92d685c68db4bc699dd78462a646f6ef9, < f061336f072ab03fd29270ae61fede46bf8fd69d | ≥ 8f2535b92d685c68db4bc699dd78462a646f6ef9, < 2b5f282b1b7241ef624c3399a1cdff0bb1a3eeab | ≥ 8f2535b92d685c68db4bc699dd78462a646f6ef9, < 22a9adea7e26d236406edc0ea00b54351dd56b9c | ≥ 8f2535b92d685c68db4bc699dd78462a646f6ef9, < f5d8af683410a8c82e48b51291915bd612523d9a | ≥ 8f2535b92d685c68db4bc699dd78462a646f6ef9, < cc6d5a3c0a854aeae00915fc5386570c86029c60 | ≥ 8f2535b92d685c68db4bc699dd78462a646f6ef9, < be8b82c567fda86f2cbb43b7208825125bb31421 | ≥ 8f2535b92d685c68db4bc699dd78462a646f6ef9, < 017c1792525064a723971f0216e6ef86a8c7af11 | 3.13
  • linux_kernel≥ 3.13, < 5.10.253 | ≥ 5.11, < 5.15.203 | ≥ 5.16, < 6.1.167 | ≥ 6.2, < 6.6.130 | ≥ 6.7, < 6.12.77 | ≥ 6.13, < 6.18.17 | ≥ 6.19, < 6.19.7 | 7.0:rc1
Debian1 product
  • linux< 6.1.170-1 | < 6.12.85-1 | < 6.19.8-1

3 vendors · 160 products

References

41 links
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