CVE-2026-97474

High

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: wifi: iwlwifi: mld: purge async notifications upon nic error This fixes a kernel panic in reconfig failure: 1. we have a BSS connection 2. we have a NAN connection 3. FW error occurs 4. reconfig restores the BSS connection 5. however, restoring the NAN connection fails due to a FW error. 6. erroneously, ieee80211_handle_reconfig_failure is called and marks all interfaces as not-in-driver (will be fixed in a different patch). 7. mac80211 frees the links of the BSS connection but doesn't tell the driver about that, as it thinks that this vif is not in the driver. 8. in ieee80211_stop_device, *ALL* wiphy works are getting flushed (erroneously?) 9. Therefore, async_handlers_wk is being executed, processing the statistics notification that was received after we restored the BSS connection. 10. the notification handler dereferences fw_id_to_bss_conf[id], which is now a dangling pointer, as mac80211 already freed this link in (7). 11. On the first access to one of the links fields, we panic. While this can and should be fixed by removing the call to ieee80211_handle_reconfig_failure in (6), it is also not a good idea to carry and maybe handle notifications from a dead FW. We do purge the notifications when we stop the FW, but in reconfig failure we stop the FW too late, after the notifications are processed. In addition, async_handlers_wk can always be scheduled before the reconfig work. Purge the notifications immediately when transport notifies about a nic error.

Package Linux Kernel
Published 2026-09-24
Last modified 2026-09-28
CVSS version 3.1
Patch available
Yes

CVSS 3.1 score

7.4

out of 10
High
Attack Vector
Local
Attack Complexity
High
Privileges Required
None
User Interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High
Vector string
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Affected versions

Linux kernel versions 6.15 and later are affected. Fixed in 6.18.53, 7.2 and their respective stable series.

Affected from
≥ 6.15
Fixed in
✓ 6.18.53 6.18.x ✓ 7.2

Frequently asked questions

  • What is CVE-2026-97474?

    CVE-2026-97474 is a High severity Linux kernel vulnerability with a CVSS score of 7.4 out of 10 . It affects Linux kernel versions from 6.15 onward and has been patched in 6.18.53 and 7.2. CVE-2026-97474 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

  • What is the CVSS score for CVE-2026-97474?

    CVE-2026-97474 has a CVSS score of 7.4 out of 10, rated High severity (CVSS 3.1). The vector string is CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H .

  • Is there a patch available for CVE-2026-97474?

    Yes. CVE-2026-97474 has been patched. Fixed versions include 6.18.53 and 7.2. If you are running Linux kernel 6.15 or later up to the fix versions, apply the relevant patch for your kernel branch.

  • Is CVE-2026-97474 actively exploited?

    No. CVE-2026-97474 has not been confirmed as actively exploited. It is not listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog.