Medium [CVE-2026-68410] Linux kernel: Memory leak in Libertas Wi-Fi driver's firmware handling
This medium-severity Red Hat Linux advisory covers CVE-2026-68410 affecting Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9, Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.
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Summary
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: wifi: libertas: fix memory leak in helper_firmware_cb() helper_firmware_cb() neglects to free the single-stage firmware image after a successful async load, leading to a memory leak in the USB firmware-download path.
Fix this memory leak by calling release_firmware() immediately after lbs_fw_loaded() returns. The bug was first flagged by an experimental analysis tool we are developing for kernel memory-management bugs while analyzing v6.13-rc1.
The tool is still under development and is not yet publicly available. Manual inspection confirms that the bug is still present in the current wireless tree.
An x86_64 allyesconfig build showed no new warnings. As we do not have compatible Libertas USB hardware for exercising this firmware-download path, no runtime testing was able to be performed.
This issue could potentially lead to system instability or a denial of service (DoS) due to resource exhaustion. Red Hat severity: Moderate — CVSS 4.7 (CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H).
Weakness: CWE-772. Affected Red Hat products: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8; Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9; Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.
Red Hat lists Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10; Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6; Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7; Red Hat Enterprise Linux for NVIDIA 26 as not affected.
Affected versions
No affected-version range was extracted from the source record. The vendor advisory is authoritative — check it before change work.
Official advisory · medium-confidence parse· fetched 1 hour ago·verify at source
Fixed versions
No fixed release is recorded yet. That does not prove no patch exists — confirm against the vendor advisory.
Official advisory · medium-confidence parse· fetched 1 hour ago·verify at source
Mitigation
The source record does not include mitigation steps. That is not a statement that no fix exists — read the vendor advisory below for the authoritative guidance.
Official advisory · medium-confidence parse· fetched 1 hour ago·verify at source
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