CVE-2026-98185
Description
A flaw was found in the mwifiex driver in the Linux kernel. When processing wireless scan responses, the driver fails to properly validate response extents before calculating internal buffer boundaries. A malicious or compromised wireless device sending malformed scan response data can trigger an integer underflow, causing the driver to read memory beyond the allocated response buffer. This issue primarily results in a system crash, causing a Denial of Service (DoS), or potential information disclosure.
Statement
An out of bounds read can occur in the mwifiex WiFi scan response path because the driver derives the TLV buffer length by subtracting fixed response fields and firmware supplied BSS data length without validating that both extents fit inside resp size. A short scan response or an oversized BSS length can underflow the calculated length and make the TLV parser read beyond the command response. For the CVSS the PR:N because an attacker does not need local access if malformed wireless scan data can be propagated by the affected firmware. The attack vector is adjacent wireless access rather than general Internet access. Reliable triggering depends on firmware behavior and may require a crafted beacon or probe response during scanning. Impact is at least denial of service through an invalid kernel memory read. The paranoid score includes limited confidentiality impact because an out of bounds read exists, but the patch does not establish an out of bounds write, privilege escalation, or a proven information disclosure path.
Mitigation
Mitigation for this issue is either not available or the currently available options don't meet the Red Hat Product Security criteria comprising ease of use and deployment, applicability to widespread installation base or stability.
Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) Score Details
Info alert:Important note
CVSS scores for open source components depend on vendor-specific factors (e.g. version or build chain). Therefore, Red Hat's score and impact rating can be different from NVD and other vendors. Red Hat remains the authoritative CVE Naming Authority (CNA) source for its products and services (see Red Hat classifications).
The following CVSS metrics and score provided are preliminary and subject to review.
CVSS v3 Score Breakdown
| Red Hat | NVD | cve.org | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Base Score | 6.2 | N/A | N/A |
| Attack Vector | Local | N/A | N/A |
| Attack Complexity | Low | N/A | N/A |
| Privileges Required | None | N/A | N/A |
| User Interaction | None | N/A | N/A |
| Scope | Unchanged | N/A | N/A |
| Confidentiality | None | N/A | N/A |
| Integrity Impact | None | N/A | N/A |
| Availability Impact | High | N/A | N/A |
Vector
Red Hat: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Understanding the Weakness (CWE)
Confidentiality
Technical Impact: Read Memory
An attacker could get secret values such as cryptographic keys, PII, memory addresses, or other information that could be used in additional attacks.
Confidentiality
Technical Impact: Bypass Protection Mechanism
Out-of-bounds memory could contain memory addresses or other information that can be used to bypass ASLR and other protection mechanisms in order to improve the reliability of exploiting a separate weakness for code execution.
Availability
Technical Impact: DoS: Crash, Exit, or Restart
An attacker could cause a segmentation fault or crash by causing memory to be read outside of the bounds of the buffer. This is especially likely when the code reads a variable amount of data and assumes that a sentinel exists to stop the read operation, such as a NUL in a string.
Other
Technical Impact: Varies by Context
The read operation could produce other undefined or unexpected results.
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