# CVE-2026-68472: wifi: cfg80211: validate EHT MLE before MLD ID read

> A malicious access point can cause a kernel crash by sending a malformed EHT multi-link element, requiring a patch to validate element size before reading fields.

- **Severity:** High 8.1 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/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:** 15 Aug 2026
- **Updated:** 19 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2026-68472, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-68472, GHSA-chr6-4qp3-f3h9, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-68472

## What is CVE-2026-68472?

CVE-2026-68472 is a high-severity 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: cfg80211: validate EHT MLE before MLD ID read

cfg80211_gen_new_ie() copies ML probe response elements from
the parent frame when the parent EHT multi-link element has an
MLD ID matching the nontransmitted BSSID index.

The code only checked that the extension element had more than
one byte before calling ieee80211_mle_get_mld_id(). That helper
assumes a BASIC MLE with enough common info and documents that
callers must first use ieee80211_mle_type_ok().

Attack chain:
malicious AP sends a short EHT MLE in an MBSSID beacon.
cfg80211_inform_bss_frame_data() stores the copied IE buffer.
cfg80211_parse_mbssid_data() builds the nontransmitted BSS IE.
cfg80211_gen_new_ie() sees the EHT MLE in the parent frame.
ieee80211_mle_get_mld_id() then reads past the IE boundary.

Validate the MLE type and size before reading the MLD ID. This
matches the contract required by the MLE helper and rejects the
short element before any internal MLE fields are accessed.

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

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-68472?


## How do I fix CVE-2026-68472?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-68472 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-68472 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-68472 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-68472 is a high-severity 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.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-68472 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-2026-68472/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-68472/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-68472
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-68472
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-68472

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-68472/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.