CVE-2026-46125 wifi: mac80211: remove station if connection prep fails
A use-after-free in the Linux kernel Wi-Fi subsystem allows attackers to cause a denial of service or potentially execute code if debugfs is enabled.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- Not needed
- Attackable
- Local or same network only
- Victim action needed
- Not needed
- Fix
- Available
What is CVE-2026-46125?
CVE-2026-46125 is a high-severity use after free vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 28 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: mac80211: remove station if connection prep fails
If connection preparation fails for MLO connections, then the interface is completely reset to non-MLD. In this case, we must not keep the station since it's related to the link of the vif being removed. Delete an existing station. Any "new_sta" is already being removed, so that doesn't need changes.
This fixes a use-after-free/double-free in debugfs if that's enabled, because a vif going from MLD (and to MLD, but that's not relevant here) recreates its entire debugfs.
Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-46125?
It affects 1 product.
Products include Linux kernel.
How do I fix CVE-2026-46125?
Apply the vendor's patch.
Upgrade to the fixed version. These bugs are found with fuzzing and sanitisers and avoided by memory-safe languages. More about Use after free.
Is CVE-2026-46125 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-46125 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Other vulnerabilities in Linux kernel
Sources
Also known as AZL-89111, BELL-CVE-2026-46125, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-46125, GHSA-xrmp-x8vm-qcmh, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-12-CVE-2026-46125, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2404-CVE-2026-46125 and 1 more.