CVE-2026-64446 staging: rtl8723bs: fix heap buffer overflow in rtw_cfg80211_set_wpa_ie()
A heap buffer overflow in the rtl8723bs Wi-Fi driver allows local attackers to execute arbitrary code or escalate privileges via crafted WPA IEs.
- 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
What is CVE-2026-64446?
CVE-2026-64446 is a high-severity memory corruption 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 heap buffer overflow in rtw_cfg80211_set_wpa_ie()
supplicant_ie is a 256-byte array in struct security_priv. The WPA and WPA2 IE copy paths use:
memcpy(padapter->securitypriv.supplicant_ie, &pwpa[0], wpa_ielen + 2);
where wpa_ielen is the raw IE length field (u8, 0-255). When a local user supplies a connect request via nl80211 with a crafted WPA IE of length 255, wpa_ielen + 2 equals 257, overflowing the 256-byte buffer by one byte into the adjacent last_mic_err_time field.
rtw_parse_wpa_ie() does not prevent this: its length consistency check compares *(wpa_ie+1) against (u8)(wpa_ie_len-2), which is (u8)(255) == 255 when wpa_ie_len = 257, so the check passes silently.
Add explicit bounds checks for both the WPA and WPA2 paths before the memcpy, rejecting any IE whose total size (wpa_ielen + 2) exceeds the supplicant_ie buffer.
Weakness: CWE-787
Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-64446?
It affects 1 product.
Products include Linux kernel.
How do I fix CVE-2026-64446?
Apply the vendor's patch.
Upgrade to the fixed version. Memory-safe languages, compiler hardening and fuzzing prevent most new cases. More about Memory corruption.
Is CVE-2026-64446 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-64446 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Other vulnerabilities in Linux kernel
Sources
Also known as BELL-CVE-2026-64446, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-64446, GHSA-49pq-8ggv-fqjq, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2204-CVE-2026-64446, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-64446.