# CVE-2026-74408: wifi: ath9k: fix OOB access from firmware tx status queue ID

> Out-of-bounds access in the ath9k Wi-Fi driver allows attackers to cause memory corruption, potentially leading to code execution or system crashes.

- **Severity:** High 8.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/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:** 16 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2026-74408, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-74408, GHSA-6hv7-5h9p-9jrw, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-74408

## What is CVE-2026-74408?

CVE-2026-74408 is a high-severity memory corruption 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: ath9k: fix OOB access from firmware tx status queue ID

ath_tx_edma_tasklet() accesses sc->tx.txq[ts.qid] where ts.qid is a
4-bit hardware field (0-15), but the txq array only has
ATH9K_NUM_TX_QUEUES (10) entries. A qid >= 10 causes an OOB array
access.

Add a bounds check on ts.qid before using it as an array index.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-74408?


## How do I fix CVE-2026-74408?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-74408 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-74408 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-74408 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-74408 is a high-severity memory corruption 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-2026-74408 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-2026-74408/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-74408/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-74408
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-74408
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-74408

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-74408/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.