CVE-2026-31548 wifi: cfg80211: cancel pmsr_free_wk in cfg80211_pmsr_wdev_down
A race condition in the Linux kernel WiFi subsystem can cause crashes when a PMSR request is aborted during interface teardown.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- Any signed-in user
- Attackable
- Local or same network only
- Victim action needed
- Not needed
- Fix
- Available
What is CVE-2026-31548?
CVE-2026-31548 is a high-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 24 Apr 2026. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Official description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
wifi: cfg80211: cancel pmsr_free_wk in cfg80211_pmsr_wdev_down
When the nl80211 socket that originated a PMSR request is closed, cfg80211_release_pmsr() sets the request's nl_portid to zero and schedules pmsr_free_wk to process the abort asynchronously. If the interface is concurrently torn down before that work runs, cfg80211_pmsr_wdev_down() calls cfg80211_pmsr_process_abort() directly. However, the already- scheduled pmsr_free_wk work item remains pending and may run after the interface has been removed from the driver. This could cause the driver's abort_pmsr callback to operate on a torn-down interface, leading to undefined behavior and potential crashes.
Cancel pmsr_free_wk synchronously in cfg80211_pmsr_wdev_down() before calling cfg80211_pmsr_process_abort(). This ensures any pending or in-progress work is drained before interface teardown proceeds, preventing the work from invoking the driver abort callback after the interface is gone.
Weakness: CWE-362
Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-31548?
It affects 1 product.
Products include Linux kernel.
How do I fix CVE-2026-31548?
Apply the vendor's patch.
Is CVE-2026-31548 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-31548 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Other vulnerabilities in Linux kernel
Sources
Also known as BELL-CVE-2026-31548, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-31548, GHSA-4288-373w-7jf8, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-11-CVE-2026-31548, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-12-CVE-2026-31548, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-13-CVE-2026-31548 and 3 more.