# CVE-2026-46307: wifi: ath5k: do not access array OOB

> An out-of-bounds write in the ath5k Wi-Fi driver can corrupt adjacent memory, though the impact is described as negligible.

- **Severity:** High 8.3 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:L`)
- **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:** 8 Jun 2026
- **Updated:** 15 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** AZL-89595, BELL-CVE-2026-46307, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-46307, GHSA-qrx4-q7hg-2xx2, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-11-CVE-2026-46307, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-12-CVE-2026-46307, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-46307

## What is CVE-2026-46307?

CVE-2026-46307 is a high-severity memory corruption vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 8 Jun 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: ath5k: do not access array OOB

Vincent reports:
> The ath5k driver seems to do an array-index-out-of-bounds access as
> shown by the UBSAN kernel message:
> UBSAN: array-index-out-of-bounds in drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath5k/base.c:1741:20
> index 4 is out of range for type 'ieee80211_tx_rate [4]'
> ...
> Call Trace:
>  <TASK>
>  dump_stack_lvl+0x5d/0x80
>  ubsan_epilogue+0x5/0x2b
>  __ubsan_handle_out_of_bounds.cold+0x46/0x4b
>  ath5k_tasklet_tx+0x4e0/0x560 [ath5k]
>  tasklet_action_common+0xb5/0x1c0

It is real. 'ts->ts_final_idx' can be 3 on 5212, so:
   info->status.rates[ts->ts_final_idx + 1].idx = -1;
with the array defined as:
   struct ieee80211_tx_rate rates[IEEE80211_TX_MAX_RATES];
while the size is:
   #define IEEE80211_TX_MAX_RATES  4
is indeed bogus.

Set this 'idx = -1' sentinel only if the array index is less than the
array size. As mac80211 will not look at rates beyond the size
(IEEE80211_TX_MAX_RATES).

Note: The effect of the OOB write is negligible. It just overwrites the
next member of info->status, i.e. ack_signal.

Weakness: CWE-125 (Out-of-bounds Read)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-46307?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2026-46307?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-46307 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-46307 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-2026-46307 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-46307 is a high-severity memory corruption vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 8 Jun 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-2026-46307 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-2026-46307/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-46307/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-46307
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-46307
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-46307

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-46307/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.