# CVE-2026-64445: staging: rtl8723bs: fix WEP length underflow and OOB read in OnAuth()

> An integer underflow in the rtl8723bs Wi-Fi driver allows out-of-bounds reads, potentially leaking memory or causing a crash.

- **Severity:** High 8.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/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:** 25 Jul 2026
- **Updated:** 19 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2026-64445, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-64445, GHSA-g74x-wr8m-rhmp, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-12-CVE-2026-64445, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2204-CVE-2026-64445, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-64445

## What is CVE-2026-64445?

CVE-2026-64445 is a high-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 25 Jul 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:

staging: rtl8723bs: fix WEP length underflow and OOB read in OnAuth()

OnAuth() has two bugs in the shared-key authentication path.

When the Privacy bit is set, rtw_wep_decrypt() is called without
verifying that the frame is long enough to contain a valid WEP IV and
ICV.  Inside rtw_wep_decrypt(), length is computed as:

    length = len - WLAN_HDR_A3_LEN - iv_len

and then passed as (length - 4) to crc32_le().  If len is less than
WLAN_HDR_A3_LEN + iv_len + icv_len (32 bytes), length - 4 is negative
and, after the implicit cast to size_t, causes crc32_le() to read far
beyond the frame buffer.  Add a minimum length check before accessing
the IV field and calling the decryption path.

When processing a seq=3 response, rtw_get_ie() stores the Challenge
Text IE length in ie_len, but the subsequent memcmp() always reads 128
bytes regardless of ie_len.  IEEE 802.11 mandates a challenge text of
exactly 128 bytes; reject any IE whose length field differs, matching
the check already applied to OnAuthClient().

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

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-64445?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2026-64445?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-64445 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-64445 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-2026-64445 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-64445 is a high-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 25 Jul 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-2026-64445 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-2026-64445/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-64445/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-64445
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-64445
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-64445

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-64445/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.