# CVE-2026-31551: wifi: mac80211: Fix static_branch_dec() underflow for aql_disable.

> A race condition in the Linux kernel's mac80211 Wi-Fi subsystem allows local attackers to trigger a static branch underflow, causing a kernel warning or potential denial of service.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.5 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H`)
- **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:** Yes
- **Published:** 24 Apr 2026
- **Updated:** 11 May 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2026-31551, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-31551, GHSA-gmmg-2vvm-27c6, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-12-CVE-2026-31551, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-13-CVE-2026-31551, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2204-CVE-2026-31551, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2404-CVE-2026-31551, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-31551

## What is CVE-2026-31551?

CVE-2026-31551 is a medium-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: mac80211: Fix static_branch_dec() underflow for aql_disable.

syzbot reported static_branch_dec() underflow in aql_enable_write(). [0]

The problem is that aql_enable_write() does not serialise concurrent
write()s to the debugfs.

aql_enable_write() checks static_key_false(&aql_disable.key) and
later calls static_branch_inc() or static_branch_dec(), but the
state may change between the two calls.

aql_disable does not need to track inc/dec.

Let's use static_branch_enable() and static_branch_disable().

[0]:
val == 0
WARNING: kernel/jump_label.c:311 at __static_key_slow_dec_cpuslocked.part.0+0x107/0x120 kernel/jump_label.c:311, CPU#0: syz.1.3155/20288
Modules linked in:
CPU: 0 UID: 0 PID: 20288 Comm: syz.1.3155 Tainted: G     U       L      syzkaller #0 PREEMPT(full)
Tainted: [U]=USER, [L]=SOFTLOCKUP
Hardware name: Google Google Compute Engine/Google Compute Engine, BIOS Google 01/24/2026
RIP: 0010:__static_key_slow_dec_cpuslocked.part.0+0x107/0x120 kernel/jump_label.c:311
Code: f2 c9 ff 5b 5d c3 cc cc cc cc e8 54 f2 c9 ff 48 89 df e8 ac f9 ff ff eb ad e8 45 f2 c9 ff 90 0f 0b 90 eb a2 e8 3a f2 c9 ff 90 <0f> 0b 90 eb 97 48 89 df e8 5c 4b 33 00 e9 36 ff ff ff 0f 1f 80 00
RSP: 0018:ffffc9000b9f7c10 EFLAGS: 00010293
RAX: 0000000000000000 RBX: ffffffff9b3e5d40 RCX: ffffffff823c57b4
RDX: ffff8880285a0000 RSI: ffffffff823c5846 RDI: ffff8880285a0000
RBP: 0000000000000000 R08: 0000000000000005 R09: 0000000000000000
R10: 0000000000000000 R11: 0000000000000000 R12: 000000000000000a
R13: 1ffff9200173ef88 R14: 0000000000000001 R15: ffffc9000b9f7e98
FS:  00007f530dd726c0(0000) GS:ffff8881245e3000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000
CS:  0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033
CR2: 0000200000001140 CR3: 000000007cc4a000 CR4: 00000000003526f0
Call Trace:
 <TASK>
 __static_key_slow_dec_cpuslocked kernel/jump_label.c:297 [inline]
 __static_key_slow_dec kernel/jump_label.c:321 [inline]
 static_key_slow_dec+0x7c/0xc0 kernel/jump_label.c:336
 aql_enable_write+0x2b2/0x310 net/mac80211/debugfs.c:343
 short_proxy_write+0x133/0x1a0 fs/debugfs/file.c:383
 vfs_write+0x2aa/0x1070 fs/read_write.c:684
 ksys_pwrite64 fs/read_write.c:793 [inline]
 __do_sys_pwrite64 fs/read_write.c:801 [inline]
 __se_sys_pwrite64 fs/read_write.c:798 [inline]
 __x64_sys_pwrite64+0x1eb/0x250 fs/read_write.c:798
 do_syscall_x64 arch/x86/entry/syscall_64.c:63 [inline]
 do_syscall_64+0xc9/0xf80 arch/x86/entry/syscall_64.c:94
 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x77/0x7f
RIP: 0033:0x7f530cf9aeb9
Code: ff c3 66 2e 0f 1f 84 00 00 00 00 00 0f 1f 44 00 00 48 89 f8 48 89 f7 48 89 d6 48 89 ca 4d 89 c2 4d 89 c8 4c 8b 4c 24 08 0f 05 <48> 3d 01 f0 ff ff 73 01 c3 48 c7 c1 e8 ff ff ff f7 d8 64 89 01 48
RSP: 002b:00007f530dd72028 EFLAGS: 00000246 ORIG_RAX: 0000000000000012
RAX: ffffffffffffffda RBX: 00007f530d215fa0 RCX: 00007f530cf9aeb9
RDX: 0000000000000003 RSI: 0000000000000000 RDI: 0000000000000010
RBP: 00007f530d008c1f R08: 0000000000000000 R09: 0000000000000000
R10: 4200000000000005 R11: 0000000000000246 R12: 0000000000000000
R13: 00007f530d216038 R14: 00007f530d215fa0 R15: 00007ffde89fb978
 </TASK>

Weakness: CWE-191 (Integer Underflow (Wrap or Wraparound))

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-31551?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2026-31551?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-31551 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-31551 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Linux kernel

- [CVE-2026-53266](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-53266/): Linux Kernel Out-of-Bounds Write (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2013-6282](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-6282/): Linux Kernel Improper Input Validation (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2022-0185](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-0185/): Linux Kernel Heap-Based Buffer Overflow (high 8.4, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2013-2094](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-2094/): Linux Kernel Privilege Escalation (high 8.4, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2026-53362](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-53362/): Linux Kernel Unspecified (high 7.8, exploited in the wild)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-31551 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-31551 is a medium-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.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-31551 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Linux kernel. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-31551/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-31551/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-31551
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-31551
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-31551

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-31551/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.