# CVE-2026-97517: wifi: nl80211: reject beacons with bad HE operation

> A missing size check in the Linux kernel Wi-Fi subsystem allows attackers to cause a denial of service by sending malformed HE operation beacons.

- **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:** 24 Sep 2026
- **Updated:** 3 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** AZL-103937, BELL-CVE-2026-97517, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-97517, GHSA-j7pv-67gg-x7c9, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-97517

## What is CVE-2026-97517?

CVE-2026-97517 is a denial of service vulnerability in Linux, published on 24 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:

wifi: nl80211: reject beacons with bad HE operation

The HE operation element not only needs to be longer than
the fixed part, but also have an appropriate size for the
variable part inside of it. Check this.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-97517?


## How do I fix CVE-2026-97517?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-97517 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-97517 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-97517 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-97517 is a denial of service vulnerability in Linux, published on 24 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-2026-97517 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-2026-97517/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-97517/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-97517
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-97517
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-97517

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-97517/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.