# CVE-2026-43213: wifi: rtw89: pci: validate sequence number of TX release report

> A missing validation in the rtw89 WiFi driver allows a NULL pointer dereference, causing a kernel crash and denial of service.

- **Severity:** High 7.5 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 6 May 2026
- **Updated:** 21 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2026-43213, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-43213, GHSA-g35v-pp28-72vc, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-11-CVE-2026-43213, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-12-CVE-2026-43213, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-13-CVE-2026-43213, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2204-CVE-2026-43213, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2404-CVE-2026-43213, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-43213

## What is CVE-2026-43213?

CVE-2026-43213 is a high-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 6 May 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: rtw89: pci: validate sequence number of TX release report

Hardware rarely reports abnormal sequence number in TX release report,
which will access out-of-bounds of wd_ring->pages array, causing NULL
pointer dereference.

  BUG: kernel NULL pointer dereference, address: 0000000000000000
  #PF: supervisor read access in kernel mode
  #PF: error_code(0x0000) - not-present page
  PGD 0 P4D 0
  Oops: 0000 [#1] PREEMPT SMP NOPTI
  CPU: 1 PID: 1085 Comm: irq/129-rtw89_p Tainted: G S   U
             6.1.145-17510-g2f3369c91536 #1 (HASH:69e8 1)
  Call Trace:
   <IRQ>
   rtw89_pci_release_tx+0x18f/0x300 [rtw89_pci (HASH:4c83 2)]
   rtw89_pci_napi_poll+0xc2/0x190 [rtw89_pci (HASH:4c83 2)]
   net_rx_action+0xfc/0x460 net/core/dev.c:6578 net/core/dev.c:6645 net/core/dev.c:6759
   handle_softirqs+0xbe/0x290 kernel/softirq.c:601
   ? rtw89_pci_interrupt_threadfn+0xc5/0x350 [rtw89_pci (HASH:4c83 2)]
   __local_bh_enable_ip+0xeb/0x120 kernel/softirq.c:499 kernel/softirq.c:423
   </IRQ>
   <TASK>
   rtw89_pci_interrupt_threadfn+0xf8/0x350 [rtw89_pci (HASH:4c83 2)]
   ? irq_thread+0xa7/0x340 kernel/irq/manage.c:0
   irq_thread+0x177/0x340 kernel/irq/manage.c:1205 kernel/irq/manage.c:1314
   ? thaw_kernel_threads+0xb0/0xb0 kernel/irq/manage.c:1202
   ? irq_forced_thread_fn+0x80/0x80 kernel/irq/manage.c:1220
   kthread+0xea/0x110 kernel/kthread.c:376
   ? synchronize_irq+0x1a0/0x1a0 kernel/irq/manage.c:1287
   ? kthread_associate_blkcg+0x80/0x80 kernel/kthread.c:331
   ret_from_fork+0x1f/0x30 arch/x86/entry/entry_64.S:295
   </TASK>

To prevent crash, validate rpp_info.seq before using.

Weakness: CWE-476 (NULL Pointer Dereference), CWE-125 (Out-of-bounds Read)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-43213?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2026-43213?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-43213 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-43213 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-2026-43213 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-43213 is a high-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 6 May 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-2026-43213 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-2026-43213/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-43213/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-43213
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-43213
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-43213

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-43213/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.