Vulnerability in Linux
CVE-2026-68409
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: wifi: mac80211: defer link RX stats percpu free to RCU sta_remove_link() frees a removed MLO link's RX stats percpu buffer right away, but defers only the link container to RCU: sta_info_free_link(&alloc->info); kfree_rcu(alloc, rcu_head); The RX fast path reads link_sta under rcu_read_lock and writes the percpu stats. A reader that resolved link_sta before the removal keeps the pointer. The container stays alive from the kfree_rcu, so the read still works. But the percpu block it points to is already freed. This needs uses_rss. That is when pcpu_rx_stats exists. The full STA teardown frees the deflink stats only after synchronize_net(). The link removal path had no such barrier. The race is hard to win in practice, but the free should still wait for RCU. Free the link together with its data from a single RCU callback, so the percpu block is reclaimed only after readers drain.
Published · last modified .
CVSS v3 metric
CVSS v3 base score 8.8 (High). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H.
EPSS exploit prediction
EPSS: 0.004 (28.7th percentile), scored .
Very low probability of exploitation in the next 30 days; routine patching cadence is appropriate. 29th percentile — 28.7% of CVEs in the catalogue have a lower EPSS than this one. How to read EPSS.
EPSS over last 30 days · oldest: 0.002 · newest: 0.004 · change: +0.001
Affected products
- Linux — versions c71420db653aba30a234d1e4cf86dde376e604fa, 7.1.6, 7.2
References
Frequently asked questions
- What is CVE-2026-68409?
- CVE-2026-68409 is a high-severity vulnerability in Linux. CVSS score: 8.8/10. Published 2026-08-10.
- How severe is CVE-2026-68409?
- High severity. CVSS v3 base score is 8.8 out of 10.