# CVE-2026-68402: wifi: cfg80211: bound element ID read when checking non-inheritance

> A crafted Wi-Fi frame triggers a one-byte out-of-bounds read in the Linux kernel, potentially leaking memory or causing a crash.

- **Severity:** High 7.1 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/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:** 10 Aug 2026
- **Updated:** 19 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2026-68402, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-68402, GHSA-755j-4fg9-vf62, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-68402

## What is CVE-2026-68402?

CVE-2026-68402 is a high-severity memory corruption 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: cfg80211: bound element ID read when checking non-inheritance

cfg80211_is_element_inherited() reads the first data octet of the
candidate element (id = elem->data[0]) to look it up in an extension
non-inheritance list. It does so after testing elem->id, but without
verifying that the element actually has a data octet. A zero-length
extension element (WLAN_EID_EXTENSION with length 0) therefore makes it
read one octet past the end of the element.

_ieee802_11_parse_elems_full() runs this check for every element of a
frame once a non-inheritance context exists -- e.g. while parsing a
per-STA profile of a Multi-Link element in a (re)association response,
or a non-transmitted BSS profile -- so a crafted frame from an AP can
trigger a one-octet slab-out-of-bounds read during element parsing:

  BUG: KASAN: slab-out-of-bounds in cfg80211_is_element_inherited
  Read of size 1 ... in net/wireless/scan.c

Return early (treat the element as inherited) when an extension element
carries no data, mirroring the existing handling of empty ID lists.

The bug was found by fuzzing ieee802_11_parse_elems_full() under KASAN.

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

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-68402?


## How do I fix CVE-2026-68402?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-68402 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-68402 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-68402 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-68402 is a high-severity memory corruption 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-2026-68402 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-2026-68402/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-68402/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-68402
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-68402
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-68402

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-68402/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.