High [CVE-2026-68363] Linux kernel: ath9k Wi-Fi driver use-after-free vulnerability leading to system crash
This high-severity Red Hat Linux advisory covers CVE-2026-68363 affecting Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9.
Aggregated and source-linked by VulniPulse. Data sources, validation and limitations.
VulniPulse record published Record updated
Android app · Google Play
Monitor future Red Hat Linux CVEs from your phone.
Choose a whole vendor or a precise platform, then receive matching security advisories by phone notification, email, or both. Coverage follows 34 official vendor sources and 160+ reviewed platform categories.
Summary
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.
Affected products named by the advisory: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10; Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8; Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9; Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4; and 1 more.
Affected versions
No affected-version range was extracted from the source record. The vendor advisory is authoritative — check it before change work.
Official advisory · high-confidence parse· fetched 2 hours ago·verify at source
- kernel-0:6.12.0-211.56.1.el10_2
- kernel-rt-0:4.18.0-553.163.1.rt7.504.el8_10
- kernel-0:4.18.0-553.163.1.el8_10
- kernel-0:5.14.0-687.49.1.el9_8
- RHSA-2026:68507
- RHSA-2026:67469
- RHSA-2026:67468
- RHSA-2026:68570
Official advisory · high-confidence parse· fetched 2 hours ago·verify at source
Mitigation
Upgrade to a fixed release: kernel-0:6.12.0-211.56.1.el10_2, kernel-rt-0:4.18.0-553.163.1.rt7.504.el8_10, kernel-0:4.18.0-553.163.1.el8_10, kernel-0:5.14.0-687.49.1.el9_8, RHSA-2026:68507, RHSA-2026:67469. That is the remediation for this advisory.
The vendor advisory may list additional interim mitigations or workarounds not captured here — review it before change work.
Official advisory · high-confidence parse· fetched 2 hours ago·verify at source
Discussion(0)
No comments yet. Share field notes, upgrade gotchas, or questions — verify against the vendor advisory before acting on community advice.
Sign in to join the discussion.