In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
wifi: mac80211: validate TX status rate metadata
minstrel_ht_tx_status() converts the HT/VHT rate reported in a TX status
into a group and rate index and uses those to index the minstrel_ht rate
tables. The existing validation only checked that an entry was present
and had tries recorded; it did not check that the reported MCS, spatial
stream count and bandwidth are representable by the tables, so malformed
metadata passed to minstrel_ht_get_stats() or
minstrel_ht_ri_get_stats() could be used as an out-of-bounds index.
Validate the rate metadata in the common TX status path instead of only
in minstrel_ht, since the values are used by more than rate control.
The legacy ieee80211_tx_rate array and the rate_info based entries are
sanitized in ieee80211_tx_status_ext() and ieee80211_tx_rate_update()
before any consumer runs: an entry that does not describe a valid rate
for its encoding is dropped. minstrel_ht keeps the checks that depend
on its own tables, i.e. the supported number of spatial streams, the MCS
group size and the supported bandwidths.
This does not take away the driver's responsibility to report sane
values, it only prevents a single bad report from corrupting mac80211
state. No WARN_ON() is added: with panic_on_warn a driver bug would
otherwise turn into a denial of service.
wifi: mac80211: validate TX status rate metadata
minstrel_ht_tx_status() converts the HT/VHT rate reported in a TX status
into a group and rate index and uses those to index the minstrel_ht rate
tables. The existing validation only checked that an entry was present
and had tries recorded; it did not check that the reported MCS, spatial
stream count and bandwidth are representable by the tables, so malformed
metadata passed to minstrel_ht_get_stats() or
minstrel_ht_ri_get_stats() could be used as an out-of-bounds index.
Validate the rate metadata in the common TX status path instead of only
in minstrel_ht, since the values are used by more than rate control.
The legacy ieee80211_tx_rate array and the rate_info based entries are
sanitized in ieee80211_tx_status_ext() and ieee80211_tx_rate_update()
before any consumer runs: an entry that does not describe a valid rate
for its encoding is dropped. minstrel_ht keeps the checks that depend
on its own tables, i.e. the supported number of spatial streams, the MCS
group size and the supported bandwidths.
This does not take away the driver's responsibility to report sane
values, it only prevents a single bad report from corrupting mac80211
state. No WARN_ON() is added: with panic_on_warn a driver bug would
otherwise turn into a denial of service.
Default status is the baseline for the product, each version can override it (e.g. patched versions marked unaffected).
| Vendor | Product | Default status | Versions | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Linux | Linux | unaffected |
|
|||||||||||||||
| Linux | Linux | affected |
|
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Fixes
Solution
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Workaround
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References
History
Sun, 18 Oct 2026 16:00:00 +0000
| Type | Values Removed | Values Added |
|---|---|---|
| Description | In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: wifi: mac80211: validate TX status rate metadata minstrel_ht_tx_status() converts the HT/VHT rate reported in a TX status into a group and rate index and uses those to index the minstrel_ht rate tables. The existing validation only checked that an entry was present and had tries recorded; it did not check that the reported MCS, spatial stream count and bandwidth are representable by the tables, so malformed metadata passed to minstrel_ht_get_stats() or minstrel_ht_ri_get_stats() could be used as an out-of-bounds index. Validate the rate metadata in the common TX status path instead of only in minstrel_ht, since the values are used by more than rate control. The legacy ieee80211_tx_rate array and the rate_info based entries are sanitized in ieee80211_tx_status_ext() and ieee80211_tx_rate_update() before any consumer runs: an entry that does not describe a valid rate for its encoding is dropped. minstrel_ht keeps the checks that depend on its own tables, i.e. the supported number of spatial streams, the MCS group size and the supported bandwidths. This does not take away the driver's responsibility to report sane values, it only prevents a single bad report from corrupting mac80211 state. No WARN_ON() is added: with panic_on_warn a driver bug would otherwise turn into a denial of service. | |
| Title | wifi: mac80211: validate TX status rate metadata | |
| First Time appeared |
Linux
Linux linux Kernel |
|
| CPEs | cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | |
| Vendors & Products |
Linux
Linux linux Kernel |
|
| References |
|
Projects
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MITRE
Status: PUBLISHED
Assigner: Linux
Published:
Updated: 2026-10-18T15:49:16.650Z
Reserved: 2026-09-25T10:25:14.372Z
Link: CVE-2026-98824
Vulnrichment
No data.
NVD
Status : Received
Published: 2026-10-18T16:17:36.630
Modified: 2026-10-18T16:17:36.630
Link: CVE-2026-98824
Redhat
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OpenCVE Enrichment
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Weaknesses
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