CVE-2026-68363
wifi: ath9k: hif_usb: don't dereference hif_dev after re-arming firmware request
Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: wifi: ath9k: hif_usb: don't dereference hif_dev after re-arming firmware request ath9k_hif_request_firmware() re-arms an asynchronous firmware load via request_firmware_nowait(), passing hif_dev as the completion context, and then still dereferences hif_dev: dev_info(&hif_dev->udev->dev, "ath9k_htc: Firmware %s requested\n", hif_dev->fw_name); The re-armed callback ath9k_hif_usb_firmware_cb() runs on the "events" workqueue and, when the firmware is missing, walks the retry chain into ath9k_hif_usb_firmware_fail() -> complete_all(&hif_dev->fw_done). That releases the wait_for_completion(&hif_dev->fw_done) in a concurrent ath9k_hif_usb_disconnect(), which then kfree()s hif_dev. The trailing dev_info() in the frame that re-armed the request can therefore read freed memory (hif_dev->udev, the first field of struct hif_device_usb): BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in ath9k_hif_request_firmware Read of size 8 ... by task kworker/... ath9k_hif_request_firmware ath9k_hif_usb_firmware_cb drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath9k/hif_usb.c:1247 request_firmware_work_func Allocated by ...: ath9k_hif_usb_probe drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath9k/hif_usb.c Freed by ...: ath9k_hif_usb_disconnect -> kfree drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath9k/hif_usb.c The fw_done barrier only makes disconnect wait for the firmware chain to *terminate*; it does not protect the outer ath9k_hif_request_firmware() frame that re-armed the request and keeps touching hif_dev afterwards. Drop the post-request dev_info(): it is the only use of hif_dev after the async request is armed, and it is purely informational (the dev_err() on the failure path runs only when request_firmware_nowait() did not arm a callback, so hif_dev is still alive there). This was first reported by syzbot as a single, non-reproduced crash that was later auto-obsoleted, and was independently rediscovered by the reFuzz fuzzer, which produced a C reproducer (USB-gadget connect/disconnect of an ath9k_htc device whose firmware download fails). The vulnerable code is unchanged and still present in v7.1-rc6, where the slab-use-after-free reproduces under KASAN once the (sub-microsecond) race window is widened.
INFO
Published Date :
Aug. 10, 2026, 1:20 p.m.
Last Modified :
Aug. 17, 2026, 6:17 a.m.
Remotely Exploit :
No
Source :
416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
Solution
- Remove informational logging after firmware request.
- Ensure firmware request context is valid.
- Update the Linux kernel to a patched version.
- Review asynchronous firmware loading procedures.
References to Advisories, Solutions, and Tools
Here, you will find a curated list of external links that provide in-depth
information, practical solutions, and valuable tools related to
CVE-2026-68363.
CWE - Common Weakness Enumeration
While CVE identifies
specific instances of vulnerabilities, CWE categorizes the common flaws or
weaknesses that can lead to vulnerabilities. CVE-2026-68363 is
associated with the following CWEs:
Common Attack Pattern Enumeration and Classification (CAPEC)
Common Attack Pattern Enumeration and Classification
(CAPEC)
stores attack patterns, which are descriptions of the common attributes and
approaches employed by adversaries to exploit the CVE-2026-68363
weaknesses.
We scan GitHub repositories to detect new proof-of-concept exploits. Following list is a collection of public exploits and proof-of-concepts, which have been published on GitHub (sorted by the most recently updated).
Results are limited to the first 15 repositories due to potential performance issues.
The following list is the news that have been mention
CVE-2026-68363 vulnerability anywhere in the article.
The following table lists the changes that have been made to the
CVE-2026-68363 vulnerability over time.
Vulnerability history details can be useful for understanding the evolution of a vulnerability, and for identifying the most recent changes that may impact the vulnerability's severity, exploitability, or other characteristics.
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CVE Modified by 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
Aug. 17, 2026
Action Type Old Value New Value Changed Affected [{'repo': 'https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git', 'vendor': 'Linux', 'product': 'Linux', 'versions': [{'status': 'affected', 'version': 'e904cf6fe23022cde4e0ea9d41601411a315a3dc', 'lessThan': '7f184ca38a90889f3f6665ff96748b95da39dbee', 'versionType': 'git'}, {'status': 'affected', 'version': 'e904cf6fe23022cde4e0ea9d41601411a315a3dc', 'lessThan': '10b0ce629123a3737b4eda50188f73bb7be7b68b', 'versionType': 'git'}, {'status': 'affected', 'version': 'e904cf6fe23022cde4e0ea9d41601411a315a3dc', 'lessThan': '48a69cedde7388294e4ea6fd804156cd62bc04fc', 'versionType': 'git'}, {'status': 'affected', 'version': 'e904cf6fe23022cde4e0ea9d41601411a315a3dc', 'lessThan': '7c9046d92c4b9789c9d9d775e4fd5f34be64cb0a', 'versionType': 'git'}, {'status': 'affected', 'version': 'e904cf6fe23022cde4e0ea9d41601411a315a3dc', 'lessThan': 'dad9f96945d77ecd4708f730c06ef54dcd8cc057', 'versionType': 'git'}], 'programFiles': ['drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath9k/hif_usb.c'], 'defaultStatus': 'unaffected'}, {'repo': 'https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git', 'vendor': 'Linux', 'product': 'Linux', 'versions': [{'status': 'affected', 'version': '4.4'}, {'status': 'unaffected', 'version': '0', 'lessThan': '4.4', 'versionType': 'semver'}, {'status': 'unaffected', 'version': '6.6.148', 'versionType': 'semver', 'lessThanOrEqual': '6.6.*'}, {'status': 'unaffected', 'version': '6.12.101', 'versionType': 'semver', 'lessThanOrEqual': '6.12.*'}, {'status': 'unaffected', 'version': '6.18.42', 'versionType': 'semver', 'lessThanOrEqual': '6.18.*'}, {'status': 'unaffected', 'version': '7.1.6', 'versionType': 'semver', 'lessThanOrEqual': '7.1.*'}, {'status': 'unaffected', 'version': '7.2-rc5', 'versionType': 'original_commit_for_fix', 'lessThanOrEqual': '*'}], 'programFiles': ['drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath9k/hif_usb.c'], 'defaultStatus': 'affected'}] [{'repo': 'https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git', 'vendor': 'Linux', 'product': 'Linux', 'versions': [{'status': 'affected', 'version': 'e904cf6fe23022cde4e0ea9d41601411a315a3dc', 'lessThan': '7f184ca38a90889f3f6665ff96748b95da39dbee', 'versionType': 'git'}, {'status': 'affected', 'version': 'e904cf6fe23022cde4e0ea9d41601411a315a3dc', 'lessThan': '10b0ce629123a3737b4eda50188f73bb7be7b68b', 'versionType': 'git'}, {'status': 'affected', 'version': 'e904cf6fe23022cde4e0ea9d41601411a315a3dc', 'lessThan': '48a69cedde7388294e4ea6fd804156cd62bc04fc', 'versionType': 'git'}, {'status': 'affected', 'version': 'e904cf6fe23022cde4e0ea9d41601411a315a3dc', 'lessThan': '7c9046d92c4b9789c9d9d775e4fd5f34be64cb0a', 'versionType': 'git'}, {'status': 'affected', 'version': 'e904cf6fe23022cde4e0ea9d41601411a315a3dc', 'lessThan': 'dad9f96945d77ecd4708f730c06ef54dcd8cc057', 'versionType': 'git'}], 'programFiles': ['drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath9k/hif_usb.c'], 'defaultStatus': 'unaffected'}, {'repo': 'https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git', 'vendor': 'Linux', 'product': 'Linux', 'versions': [{'status': 'affected', 'version': '4.4'}, {'status': 'unaffected', 'version': '0', 'lessThan': '4.4', 'versionType': 'semver'}, {'status': 'unaffected', 'version': '6.6.148', 'versionType': 'semver', 'lessThanOrEqual': '6.6.*'}, {'status': 'unaffected', 'version': '6.12.101', 'versionType': 'semver', 'lessThanOrEqual': '6.12.*'}, {'status': 'unaffected', 'version': '6.18.42', 'versionType': 'semver', 'lessThanOrEqual': '6.18.*'}, {'status': 'unaffected', 'version': '7.1.6', 'versionType': 'semver', 'lessThanOrEqual': '7.1.*'}, {'status': 'unaffected', 'version': '7.2', 'versionType': 'original_commit_for_fix', 'lessThanOrEqual': '*'}], 'programFiles': ['drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath9k/hif_usb.c'], 'defaultStatus': 'affected'}] -
New CVE Received by 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
Aug. 10, 2026
Action Type Old Value New Value Added Affected [{'repo': 'https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git', 'vendor': 'Linux', 'product': 'Linux', 'versions': [{'status': 'affected', 'version': 'e904cf6fe23022cde4e0ea9d41601411a315a3dc', 'lessThan': '7f184ca38a90889f3f6665ff96748b95da39dbee', 'versionType': 'git'}, {'status': 'affected', 'version': 'e904cf6fe23022cde4e0ea9d41601411a315a3dc', 'lessThan': '10b0ce629123a3737b4eda50188f73bb7be7b68b', 'versionType': 'git'}, {'status': 'affected', 'version': 'e904cf6fe23022cde4e0ea9d41601411a315a3dc', 'lessThan': '48a69cedde7388294e4ea6fd804156cd62bc04fc', 'versionType': 'git'}, {'status': 'affected', 'version': 'e904cf6fe23022cde4e0ea9d41601411a315a3dc', 'lessThan': '7c9046d92c4b9789c9d9d775e4fd5f34be64cb0a', 'versionType': 'git'}, {'status': 'affected', 'version': 'e904cf6fe23022cde4e0ea9d41601411a315a3dc', 'lessThan': 'dad9f96945d77ecd4708f730c06ef54dcd8cc057', 'versionType': 'git'}], 'programFiles': ['drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath9k/hif_usb.c'], 'defaultStatus': 'unaffected'}, {'repo': 'https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git', 'vendor': 'Linux', 'product': 'Linux', 'versions': [{'status': 'affected', 'version': '4.4'}, {'status': 'unaffected', 'version': '0', 'lessThan': '4.4', 'versionType': 'semver'}, {'status': 'unaffected', 'version': '6.6.148', 'versionType': 'semver', 'lessThanOrEqual': '6.6.*'}, {'status': 'unaffected', 'version': '6.12.101', 'versionType': 'semver', 'lessThanOrEqual': '6.12.*'}, {'status': 'unaffected', 'version': '6.18.42', 'versionType': 'semver', 'lessThanOrEqual': '6.18.*'}, {'status': 'unaffected', 'version': '7.1.6', 'versionType': 'semver', 'lessThanOrEqual': '7.1.*'}, {'status': 'unaffected', 'version': '7.2-rc5', 'versionType': 'original_commit_for_fix', 'lessThanOrEqual': '*'}], 'programFiles': ['drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath9k/hif_usb.c'], 'defaultStatus': 'affected'}] Added Description In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: wifi: ath9k: hif_usb: don't dereference hif_dev after re-arming firmware request ath9k_hif_request_firmware() re-arms an asynchronous firmware load via request_firmware_nowait(), passing hif_dev as the completion context, and then still dereferences hif_dev: dev_info(&hif_dev->udev->dev, "ath9k_htc: Firmware %s requested\n", hif_dev->fw_name); The re-armed callback ath9k_hif_usb_firmware_cb() runs on the "events" workqueue and, when the firmware is missing, walks the retry chain into ath9k_hif_usb_firmware_fail() -> complete_all(&hif_dev->fw_done). That releases the wait_for_completion(&hif_dev->fw_done) in a concurrent ath9k_hif_usb_disconnect(), which then kfree()s hif_dev. The trailing dev_info() in the frame that re-armed the request can therefore read freed memory (hif_dev->udev, the first field of struct hif_device_usb): BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in ath9k_hif_request_firmware Read of size 8 ... by task kworker/... ath9k_hif_request_firmware ath9k_hif_usb_firmware_cb drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath9k/hif_usb.c:1247 request_firmware_work_func Allocated by ...: ath9k_hif_usb_probe drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath9k/hif_usb.c Freed by ...: ath9k_hif_usb_disconnect -> kfree drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath9k/hif_usb.c The fw_done barrier only makes disconnect wait for the firmware chain to *terminate*; it does not protect the outer ath9k_hif_request_firmware() frame that re-armed the request and keeps touching hif_dev afterwards. Drop the post-request dev_info(): it is the only use of hif_dev after the async request is armed, and it is purely informational (the dev_err() on the failure path runs only when request_firmware_nowait() did not arm a callback, so hif_dev is still alive there). This was first reported by syzbot as a single, non-reproduced crash that was later auto-obsoleted, and was independently rediscovered by the reFuzz fuzzer, which produced a C reproducer (USB-gadget connect/disconnect of an ath9k_htc device whose firmware download fails). The vulnerable code is unchanged and still present in v7.1-rc6, where the slab-use-after-free reproduces under KASAN once the (sub-microsecond) race window is widened. Added Reference https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/10b0ce629123a3737b4eda50188f73bb7be7b68b Added Reference https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/48a69cedde7388294e4ea6fd804156cd62bc04fc Added Reference https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/7c9046d92c4b9789c9d9d775e4fd5f34be64cb0a Added Reference https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/7f184ca38a90889f3f6665ff96748b95da39dbee Added Reference https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/dad9f96945d77ecd4708f730c06ef54dcd8cc057