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Linux Kernel EUVDEUVD-2026-82069

| CVE-2026-90408 HIGH
2026-09-17 Linux GHSA-f527-4pqf-x9g9
7.7
CVSS 3.1 · Vendor: Linux
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Attack ChainAIDerived

Hypothetical attack flow derived from CVE metadata – not a confirmed exploit chain

  1. Access
    Control malicious/compromised ath12k firmware or WMI event source
  2. Delivery
    Deliver crafted CSA_SWITCH_COUNT_STATUS event with oversized num_vdevs
  3. Exploit
    Driver loops past TLV payload bound
  4. Execution
    Kernel out-of-bounds read
  5. Impact
    System crash / DoS

Vulnerability Assessment

Exploitation Conditions

Requires an active ath12k (Qualcomm WiFi 7) driver instance processing a WMI_TAG_PDEV_CSA_SWITCH_COUNT_STATUS_EVENT whose num_vdevs field or TLV payload is malformed/oversized relative to the actual buffer. Because num_vdevs and the event data originate from the device firmware, practical exploitation requires control over the firmware image or the host↔firmware WMI event channel (compromised/malicious firmware or a privileged local position), not a plain remote network frame. Limiting factors: applies only to systems with ath12k hardware and driver loaded (kernels ~6.3 onward before the fix), affects niche WiFi 7 chipsets, and yields a read/crash rather than code execution. Fixed in 7.2.6 and 7.3-rc1.

Impact

This is a genuine memory-safety bug (out-of-bounds read in ath12k_wmi_process_csa_switch_count_event) but a low-priority one in real-world terms. The vendor CVSS 3.1 vector (AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/C:H/I:N/A:H, 7.7) internally conflicts with the described trigger: the vector claims network-independent local access with no privileges, yet the out-of-bounds condition is driven by a malformed/oversized WMI event delivered by the Wi-Fi firmware (num_vdevs taken directly from firmware and a missing TLV policy entry), not by a conventional local user syscall path. That trigger is not attacker-controllable without a compromised/malicious firmware image or a MITM on the firmware/host WMI channel, which materially raises real attack complexity above the stated AC:L. The impact is also overstated: an OOB read of the vdev_ids array past the TLV payload is crash/DoS-primary (A:H is defensible) with at most marginal information disclosure, so C:H is not well supported - C:N/I:N is more accurate. There is no EPSS score, no CISA KEV listing, and no public PoC (the change is explicitly compile-tested only), so all exploitation-probability signals point to negligible near-term risk. Net: a real defensive-hardening fix, but a high-CVSS-but-low-real-risk item, my adjusted severity ~4.0-4.5.

Exploit ScenarioDerived

A Qualcomm ath12k (WiFi 7 / WCN7850-class) adapter receives or is fed a crafted WMI PDEV_CSA_SWITCH_COUNT_STATUS event whose num_vdevs value or truncated TLV payload exceeds the actual buffer. The driver loops over vdev_ids using the unchecked firmware-supplied count, reading past the allocated TLV data and causing a kernel out-of-bounds read (oops/crash). No public exploit code exists; the fix is compile-tested only, and triggering realistically requires control over the firmware/WMI event stream rather than a remote network packet.

This Week Schedule remediation this week. Why: HIGH severity (CVSS 7.0-8.9).
Patch available 0.2% exploitation probability (EPSS)

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AnalysisAIv1 – Sep 18, 2026

An out-of-bounds read in the ath12k Qualcomm WiFi 7 driver (ath12k_wmi_process_csa_switch_count_event) can be triggered when the driver parses a WMI_TAG_PDEV_CSA_SWITCH_COUNT_STATUS_EVENT whose firmware-supplied num_vdevs field exceeds the actual TLV payload, or when the TLV is shorter than the fixed event struct - the missing TLV policy entry means the parse layer enforces no minimum length. Systems running affected kernels (roughly 6.3 onward) with ath12k hardware and driver loaded are exposed, and because the malformed values originate from the device firmware, practical triggering requires control of the firmware image or the host-to-firmware WMI event channel rather than a plain remote network frame. Impact is limited to memory disclosure or a kernel crash rather than code execution, no public exploit code has been identified at time of analysis, and vendor fixes are available in Linux 7.2.6 and 7.3-rc1.

RemediationAI

Apply the upstream fix by upgrading to Linux 7.2.6 or 7.3-rc1 (or later), or by backporting the two stable commits 878654eb78c6aa0ff585baf1376567c775ca28ec and bf97c9d5123859a07848462539153176db029f3a referenced at git.kernel.org, which add the missing WMI_TAG_PDEV_CSA_SWITCH_COUNT_STATUS_EVENT TLV policy entry and bound num_vdevs with the new ath12k_wmi_tlv_data_len() helper. Vendor-released patch: Linux 7.2.6 and 7.3-rc1. If the kernel cannot be rebuilt or upgraded, the most effective compensating control is to remove the attack surface entirely by unloading or blacklisting the ath12k module (or disabling the affected WiFi 7 device) on hosts that do not require it, at the cost of losing wireless connectivity on that chipset; where the interface must stay up, treat firmware as a trusted component - enforce signed/firmware-verified images and restrict who can update or replace the WiFi firmware blob and any path that can inject host-to-firmware WMI events - since exploitation requires a malicious or oversized num_vdevs value from firmware. Note that because the flaw yields only an out-of-bounds read, there is no data-integrity corruption to detect after the fact, and no public exploit code has been identified at time of analysis, so these mitigations should be prioritized according to whether ath12k hardware is present and whether the firmware supply chain is considered untrusted.

Affected VersionsENISA

Linux d889913205cf7ebda905b1e62c5867ed4e39f6c2 <878654eb78c6aa0ff585baf1376567c775ca28ec
Linux d889913205cf7ebda905b1e62c5867ed4e39f6c2 <bf97c9d5123859a07848462539153176db029f3a
Linux patch: 7.3-rc1
Linux patch: 7.2.6
Linux patch: 0
Linux 6.3

Affected Packages

euvd linux no fix

Source: OSV (Open Source Vulnerabilities)

Affects your stack

Affects 1 package in euvd

Checking this CVE against your own stacks and servers is part of the Basic plan and up.

Technical ContextAI · show details

ath12k is the upstream Linux kernel driver for Qualcomm's WiFi 7 (802.11be) chipsets, which communicate with the host over Qualcomm's WMI (Wireless Module Interface) using a TLV (type-length-value) encoding. Each TLV tag is supposed to have a policy entry that lets the shared parse infrastructure validate minimum and maximum lengths before the payload is interpreted. For WMI_TAG_PDEV_CSA_SWITCH_COUNT_STATUS_EVENT (a Channel Switch Announcement status event reporting how many virtual devices must switch channels) no such policy entry existed, so the parser accepted arbitrarily short payloads. The handler then read num_vdevs directly from the firmware-provided event structure and used it as the loop bound over the trailing vdev_ids array without verifying that the array actually contained that many entries, producing an out-of-bounds read of adjacent kernel heap memory. The fix adds the missing TLV policy entry to enforce a minimum length for the fixed-size event struct, introduces a helper ath12k_wmi_tlv_data_len() that recovers a parsed TLV's payload length from its preceding header, and uses that helper to clamp num_vdevs against the real payload size before the loop. No CWE identifier was supplied in the source data, but the defect class maps to out-of-bounds read (CWE-125) rooted in missing length validation (CWE-20/CWE-1284) of firmware-supplied input. The assessed vector is CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H, reflecting that exploitation is only plausible with local privileged influence over the firmware/WMI channel, yields at most information disclosure or a denial-of-service crash, and has no integrity or confidentiality guarantees beyond the read itself.

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Severity by source

Vendor (Linux) PRIMARY 7.7 HIGH
AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:H
vuln.today AI 4.7 MEDIUM

Trigger requires malformed firmware-supplied WMI data (AC:H, PR:L local/driver context); OOB read is crash-primary DoS (A:H) with no real confidentiality or integrity impact.

3.1 AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
4.0 AV:L/AC:H/AT:P/PR:L/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
SUSE 5.5 MEDIUM
AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Red Hat 5.5 MEDIUM

Primary rating from Vendor (Linux).

CVSS VectorVendor: Linux

Attack Vector
Local
Attack Complexity
Low
Privileges Required
None
User Interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
None
Availability
High

Lifecycle Timeline

4
CVSS changed
Sep 18, 2026 - 18:22 NVD
7.7 (HIGH)
Patch available
Sep 17, 2026 - 17:19 EUVD
CVE Published
Sep 17, 2026 - 16:09 cve.org
HIGH 7.7
CVE Published
Sep 17, 2026 - 16:09 cve.org
UNKNOWN (no severity yet)

DescriptionCVE.org

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

wifi: ath12k: fix overreads in ath12k_wmi_process_csa_switch_count_event()

There is no policy entry for WMI_TAG_PDEV_CSA_SWITCH_COUNT_STATUS_EVENT, so the parse infrastructure does not enforce a minimum length for the event struct. Additionally, the num_vdevs field is taken directly from firmware and used as a loop bound over the vdev_ids array without checking that it fits within the TLV payload. Either condition can cause an out-of-bounds read.

Add a TLV policy entry for WMI_TAG_PDEV_CSA_SWITCH_COUNT_STATUS_EVENT so the parse infrastructure enforces a minimum length for the fixed-size event struct. Add a helper ath12k_wmi_tlv_data_len() to recover the payload length of a parsed TLV from the header preceding its data pointer. Use it in ath12k_wmi_process_csa_switch_count_event() to bound num_vdevs before the loop.

Compile tested only.

Executive ViewAI

Why It Matters

A memory-parsing flaw in the Qualcomm WiFi 7 driver (ath12k) included in Linux kernels 6.3 and later can cause kernel crashes or disclose kernel memory on devices equipped with affected WiFi 7 hardware. Exploitation requires control of the device firmware image or the host-to-firmware event channel, not a remote network frame, so risk is concentrated in managed fleets where firmware trust boundaries matter. Leadership should care because unpatched endpoints could face repeated instability or information leakage, and remediation is straightforward via vendor-supplied kernel updates.

Business Impact: Medium
Compensating Controls

Apply vendor patch.

Threat Intelligence Overview

EPSS Score
0.2%
Top 95% exploitable
Prevalence
Low
ath12k WiFi 7 Qualcomm (WCN7850-class) driver, niche modern hardware footprint
Data Quality
5 sources
Confidence: Medium

How this decision was reached

The engine reads each signal below and applies a fixed list of rules from top to bottom. The first rule that matches sets the recommended action – like a statement, every line is shown.

SignalValue
Severity HIGH
CISA KEV No
Public POC No
EPSS 0.2%
Patch available Yes
Active threat No
Deciding rule
HIGH severity (CVSS 7.0-8.9)
What every action level means
Emergency Immediate action required. Criteria: CRITICAL + in CISA KEV (actively exploited) without patch, OR CRITICAL + EPSS > 30% without patch, OR CRITICAL + active threat signals without patch.
Act Now Prioritize within 24-48h. Criteria: in KEV with patch available, OR CRITICAL + public POC, OR HIGH + EPSS > 10%, OR CRITICAL + active threat, OR any CRITICAL severity.
This Week Schedule remediation this week. Criteria: HIGH severity (CVSS 7.0-8.9). Patch within normal change window.
This Month Plan within 30 days. Criteria: MEDIUM severity (CVSS 4.0-6.9), lower exploitation probability. Include in regular patch cycle.
Monitor Track and reassess. Criteria: LOW severity (CVSS 0.1-3.9), minimal exploitation risk. No immediate action needed.

SSVC AssessmentENISA

SSVC Decision· derived
Defer
Exploitation· derived
None
System Exposure· derived
Small
Automatable· derived
No
Human Impact
Medium

Priority Score

38
Low Medium High Critical
KEV: 0
EPSS: 0
CVSS: +38
PoC: 0
Weaponized: 0
Threat intel: 0
Gov advisory: 0

Attack Technique

A buffer overflow occurs when a program writes more data to a memory buffer than it was allocated to hold, causing the excess data to spill into adjacent memory regions.

Vendor StatusVendor

SUSE

Severity: Moderate
Product Status
openSUSE Tumbleweed Fixed
SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 15 SP7 Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 15 SP7 Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise High Availability Extension 15 SP7 Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise High Availability Extension 15 SP7 Affected

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