CVE-2026-68471 wifi: ieee80211: validate MLE common info length
A missing length validation in the Linux kernel Wi-Fi subsystem allows attackers to cause a denial of service via malformed MLE frames.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- Not needed
- Attackable
- Local or same network only
- Victim action needed
- Not needed
- Fix
- Available
What is CVE-2026-68471?
CVE-2026-68471 is a high-severity denial of service vulnerability in Linux, published on 15 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: ieee80211: validate MLE common info length
ieee80211_mle_common_size() uses the first common-info octet as the common information length for all known MLE types. However, ieee80211_mle_size_ok() only validates that octet for Basic, Probe Request, and TDLS MLEs.
Reconfiguration MLEs also skipped the length octet when calculating the minimum common size, and Priority Access MLEs skipped validation of the advertised common information length.
Account for the Reconfiguration common-info length octet and validate the advertised common information length for all known MLE types. Keep unknown-type handling unchanged.
[remove now misleading comment]
Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-68471?
How do I fix CVE-2026-68471?
Apply the vendor's patch.
Upgrade, then put limits on request size, rate and nesting depth so one client cannot exhaust the service. More about Denial of service.
Is CVE-2026-68471 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-68471 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Sources
Also known as AZL-96405, BELL-CVE-2026-68471, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-68471, GHSA-q4hh-8fm2-f5vw, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-68471.