{"id":"CVE-2026-23444","title":"In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\nwifi: mac80211: always free skb on ieee80211_tx_prepare_skb() failure\n\nieee80211_tx_prepare_skb() has three error paths, but only two of them\nfree the skb","summary":"In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\nwifi: mac80211: always free skb on ieee80211_tx_prepare_skb() failure\n\nieee80211_tx_prepare_skb() has three error paths, but only two of them\nfree the skb. The first er…","severity":"high","cvss":7.8,"cvssVector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H","cwe":["CWE-401"],"vendor":"linux","product":"linux_kernel","affected":["linux_kernel >= 3.13.1, < 6.18.20","linux_kernel >= 6.19, < 6.19.10","linux_kernel = 3.13","linux_kernel = 7.0"],"patched":["linux_kernel 6.19.10"],"published":"2026-04-03","updated":"2026-10-15","sourceUpdated":"2026-10-15T02:18:57.160","source":"NVD","sourceUrl":"https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-23444","references":[{"url":"https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/06e769dddcbeb3baf2ce346273b53dd61fdbecf4","label":"416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67"},{"url":"https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/3b4d27acafaeab478fd24f79ad6e593a892828b9","label":"416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67"},{"url":"https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/50f1b690b4868923fbd242298def2fb88662f108","label":"416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67"},{"url":"https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/5ef8ca1c164786da24169af155c1ca1ff1353cf8","label":"416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67"},{"url":"https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/905ef207d5ed99ca64adfe39fba9ac46e434327a","label":"416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67"},{"url":"https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/9a779d1f480e83720b5384adf165604e7ee226bd","label":"416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67"},{"url":"https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/d5ad6ab61cbd89afdb60881f6274f74328af3ee9","label":"416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67"},{"url":"https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/f77b51bcee7be2bb686b5f7a2d4a1921e4bdb9f4","label":"416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67"},{"url":"https://cert-portal.siemens.com/productcert/html/ssa-784472.html","label":"0b142b55-0307-4c5a-b3c9-f314f3fb7c5e"}],"tags":["nvd","cve.org"],"epss":0.00129,"epssPercentile":0.02258,"ingestedAt":"2026-10-15T03:30:12.849Z","slug":"CVE-2026-23444","body":"## Overview\n\nIn the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\nwifi: mac80211: always free skb on ieee80211_tx_prepare_skb() failure\n\nieee80211_tx_prepare_skb() has three error paths, but only two of them\nfree the skb. The first error path (ieee80211_tx_prepare() returning\nTX_DROP) does not free it, while invoke_tx_handlers() failure and the\nfragmentation check both do.\n\nAdd kfree_skb() to the first error path so all three are consistent,\nand remove the now-redundant frees in callers (ath9k, mt76,\nmac80211_hwsim) to avoid double-free.\n\nDocument the skb ownership guarantee in the function's kdoc.\n\n## Affected\n\n- `linux_kernel >= 3.13.1, < 6.18.20`\n- `linux_kernel >= 6.19, < 6.19.10`\n- `linux_kernel = 3.13`\n- `linux_kernel = 7.0`\n\n## Remediation\n\nUpgrade past the affected range:\n\n- `linux_kernel 6.19.10`","depth":"twilight","depthScore":43,"depthScoreParts":{"impact":42.9,"likelihood":0,"exploitation":0,"ransomware":0},"changes":[]}