# CVE-2026-46163: wifi: b43legacy: enforce bounds check on firmware key index in RX path

> An attacker can trigger an out-of-bounds read in the b43legacy Wi-Fi driver by sending crafted frames with invalid key indices, potentially leaking memory or causing a crash.

- **Severity:** High 7.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/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:** 28 May 2026
- **Updated:** 15 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** AZL-89004, BELL-CVE-2026-46163, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-46163, GHSA-2qq4-4rxx-pjhm, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-11-CVE-2026-46163, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-12-CVE-2026-46163, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2204-CVE-2026-46163, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2404-CVE-2026-46163, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-46163

## What is CVE-2026-46163?

CVE-2026-46163 is a high-severity memory corruption 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: b43legacy: enforce bounds check on firmware key index in RX path

Same fix as b43: the firmware-controlled key index in b43legacy_rx()
can exceed dev->max_nr_keys. The existing B43legacy_WARN_ON is
non-enforcing in production builds, allowing an out-of-bounds read of
dev->key[].

Make the check enforcing by dropping the frame for invalid indices.

Weakness: CWE-129 (Improper Validation of Array Index)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-46163?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2026-46163?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-46163 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-46163 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-2026-46163 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-46163 is a high-severity memory corruption 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.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-46163 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-2026-46163/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-46163/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-46163
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-46163
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-46163

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-46163/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.