# CVE-2026-80794: nfc: nci: fix uninit-value in the RF discover/activated NTF handlers

> An attacker with local NFC access can trigger uninitialized memory disclosure in the Linux kernel NFC driver, potentially leaking sensitive kernel data to user space.

- **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:** 4 Sep 2026
- **Updated:** 19 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** AZL-99497, BELL-CVE-2026-80794, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-80794, GHSA-p4rx-vcw4-7733, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-80794

## What is CVE-2026-80794?

CVE-2026-80794 is a vulnerability in Linux, published on 4 Sep 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:

nfc: nci: fix uninit-value in the RF discover/activated NTF handlers

nci_rf_discover_ntf_packet() and nci_rf_intf_activated_ntf_packet() each
parse a notification into an on-stack struct (nci_rf_discover_ntf /
nci_rf_intf_activated_ntf) that is not initialised. The RF
technology-specific parameters are only extracted when
rf_tech_specific_params_len is non-zero, so a notification that reports a
zero length leaves the rf_tech_specific_params union uninitialised - and
both handlers then pass it to nci_add_new_protocol(), which reads it:

 - discover:  nci_add_new_target() -> nci_add_new_protocol();
 - activated: nci_target_auto_activated() -> nci_add_new_protocol().

nci_add_new_protocol() uses nfca_poll->nfcid1_len as both a branch
condition and a memcpy() length and copies nfcid1/sens_res/sel_res into
ndev->targets, which is later exposed to user space via NFC_CMD_GET_TARGET.

  BUG: KMSAN: uninit-value in nci_add_new_protocol+0x624/0x6c0
   nci_add_new_protocol+0x624/0x6c0
   nci_ntf_packet+0x25b2/0x3c30
   nci_rx_work+0x318/0x5d0
   process_scheduled_works+0x84b/0x17a0
   worker_thread+0xc10/0x11b0
   kthread+0x376/0x500
  Local variable ntf.i created at:
   nci_ntf_packet+0xbc2/0x3c30

Zero-initialise both on-stack notifications so the union reads back as
zero when no technology-specific parameters are present.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-80794?


## How do I fix CVE-2026-80794?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-80794 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-80794 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-80794 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-80794 is a vulnerability in Linux, published on 4 Sep 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-2026-80794 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-2026-80794/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-80794/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-80794
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-80794
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-80794

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-80794/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.