CVE-2026-46166 wifi: mac80211: use safe list iteration in radar detect work
A use-after-free vulnerability in the Linux kernel's mac80211 Wi-Fi driver allows attackers to cause a crash or potentially execute code via radar detection handling.
- 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-2026-46166?
CVE-2026-46166 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: use safe list iteration in radar detect work
The call to ieee80211_dfs_cac_cancel can cause the iterated chanctx to be freed and removed from the list. Guard against this to avoid a slab-use-after-free error.
Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-46166?
It affects 1 product.
Products include Linux kernel.
How do I fix CVE-2026-46166?
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-2026-46166 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-46166 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Other vulnerabilities in Linux kernel
Sources
Also known as BELL-CVE-2026-46166, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-46166, GHSA-pqxf-3wq6-69f8, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-46166.