# CVE-2026-68362: wifi: ath11k: fix NULL pointer dereference in ath11k_hal_srng_access_begin

> A NULL pointer dereference in the ath11k Wi-Fi driver causes a kernel crash during firmware restart, leading to denial of service.

- **Severity:** Not scored
- **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:** 10 Aug 2026
- **Updated:** 19 Aug 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2026-68362, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-68362, GHSA-2m2r-2qvp-946c, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-68362

## What is CVE-2026-68362?

CVE-2026-68362 is a vulnerability in Linux, published on 10 Aug 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: ath11k: fix NULL pointer dereference in ath11k_hal_srng_access_begin

In ATH11K_QMI_EVENT_FW_READY, ATH11K_FLAG_REGISTERED is set
unconditionally even when ath11k_core_qmi_firmware_ready() fails.
This leaves the driver in an inconsistent state where
initialization is considered complete although the firmware ready
handling did not finish successfully. During the subsequent SSR,
the driver enters the restart path based on this incorrect state
and dereferences uninitialized srng members, resulting in a NULL
pointer dereference.

Call trace:
  ath11k_hal_srng_access_begin+0xc/0x60 [ath11k] (P)
  ath11k_ce_cleanup_pipes+0x17c/0x180 [ath11k]
  ath11k_core_restart+0x40/0x168 [ath11k]

Fix this by:
- skipping firmware_ready if ATH11K_FLAG_REGISTERED is already set
- setting ATH11K_FLAG_REGISTERED only when firmware_ready succeeds
- setting ATH11K_FLAG_QMI_FAIL and aborting the FW_READY handling
on error

Tested-on: WCN6750 hw1.0 AHB WLAN.MSL.2.0.c2-00204-QCAMSLSWPLZ-1

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-68362?


## How do I fix CVE-2026-68362?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-68362 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-68362 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-68362 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-68362 is a vulnerability in Linux, published on 10 Aug 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-2026-68362 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Linux. 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-2026-68362/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-68362/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-68362
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-68362
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-68362

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-68362/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.