Linux Kernel up to 6.12.100/6.18.41/7.1.5/7.2-rc3 cfg80211 cfg80211_pmsr_process_abort deadlock

CVSS Meta Temp Score
CVSS is a standardized scoring system to determine possibilities of attacks. The Temp Score considers temporal factors like disclosure, exploit and countermeasures. The unique Meta Score calculates the average score of different sources to provide a normalized scoring system.
Current Exploit Price (≈)
Our analysts are monitoring exploit markets and are in contact with vulnerability brokers. The range indicates the observed or calculated exploit price to be seen on exploit markets. A good indicator to understand the monetary effort required for and the popularity of an attack.
CTI Interest Score
Our Cyber Threat Intelligence team is monitoring different web sites, mailing lists, exploit markets and social media networks. The CTI Interest Score identifies the interest of attackers and the security community for this specific vulnerability in real-time. A high score indicates an elevated risk to be targeted for this vulnerability.
6.2$0-$5k1.32-

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability identified as critical has been detected in Linux Kernel up to 6.12.100/6.18.41/7.1.5/7.2-rc3. This impacts the function cfg80211_pmsr_process_abort of the component cfg80211. This manipulation causes deadlock. This vulnerability is handled as CVE-2026-68408. The attack can be initiated remotely. There is not any exploit available.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel up to 6.12.100/6.18.41/7.1.5/7.2-rc3. It has been declared as critical. Affected by this vulnerability is the function cfg80211_pmsr_process_abort of the component cfg80211. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a deadlock vulnerability. The CWE definition for the vulnerability is CWE-833. The product contains multiple threads or executable segments that are waiting for each other to release a necessary lock, resulting in deadlock. As an impact it is known to affect availability. The summary by CVE is:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: wifi: cfg80211: convert pmsr_free_wk to wiphy_work to fix deadlock When a netlink socket that owns a PMSR session is closed, cfg80211_release_pmsr() clears the request's nl_portid and queues pmsr_free_wk to call cfg80211_pmsr_process_abort() asynchronously. If the interface tears down concurrently, cfg80211_pmsr_wdev_down() is called under wiphy_lock and calls cancel_work_sync(&pmsr_free_wk) to wait for any running work. The work function acquires wiphy_lock via guard(wiphy) before calling process_abort. This is a deadlock: wdev_down holds wiphy_lock and blocks inside cancel_work_sync(); pmsr_free_wk blocks trying to acquire that same wiphy_lock. Neither thread can proceed. The same deadlock is reachable from cfg80211_leave_locked(), which calls cfg80211_pmsr_wdev_down() for all interface types under wiphy_lock. Fix this by converting pmsr_free_wk from a plain work_struct to a wiphy_work. The wiphy_work dispatcher holds wiphy_lock when running work items, so the explicit guard(wiphy) in the work function is no longer needed. wiphy_work_cancel() can be called safely while holding wiphy_lock - since wiphy_lock prevents the work from running concurrently, wiphy_work_cancel() never blocks, eliminating the deadlock. Remove the cancel_work_sync() for pmsr_free_wk from the NETDEV_GOING_DOWN handler. cfg80211_leave(), called unconditionally just before it, already cancels any pending work under wiphy_lock via wiphy_work_cancel() inside cfg80211_pmsr_wdev_down().

The advisory is shared at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability is known as CVE-2026-68408 since 07/30/2026. The exploitation appears to be easy. The attack can be launched remotely. Technical details are known, but no exploit is available. The price for an exploit might be around USD $0-$5k at the moment (estimation calculated on 08/10/2026). MITRE ATT&CK project uses the attack technique T1499 for this issue.

Upgrading to version 6.12.101, 6.18.42, 7.1.6 or 7.2-rc4 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch 21512b5f7a74fd18c996c22e6854efe57d570816/133684982dd0c24359fcc641d19d89cc17d6e5ef/0a77d9fb4d5c0e01306cd406ffdee8f1fe955c0e/2b0eab425e1f658d8fe1df7590e3b9af5959505e is able to eliminate this problem.

If you want to get the best quality for vulnerability data then you always have to consider VulDB.

Productinfo

Type

Vendor

Name

Version

License

Website

CPE 2.3info

CPE 2.2info

CVSSv4info

VulDB Vector: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CVSSv3info

VulDB Meta Base Score: 6.5
VulDB Meta Temp Score: 6.2

VulDB Base Score: 6.5
VulDB Temp Score: 6.2
VulDB Vector: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CVSSv2info

AVACAuCIA
💳💳💳💳💳💳
💳💳💳💳💳💳
💳💳💳💳💳💳
VectorComplexityAuthenticationConfidentialityIntegrityAvailability
UnlockUnlockUnlockUnlockUnlockUnlock
UnlockUnlockUnlockUnlockUnlockUnlock
UnlockUnlockUnlockUnlockUnlockUnlock

VulDB Base Score: 🔒
VulDB Temp Score: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

Exploitinginfo

Class: Deadlock
CWE: CWE-833 / CWE-404
CAPEC: 🔒
ATT&CK: 🔒

Physical: No
Local: No
Remote: Yes

Availability: 🔒
Status: Not defined
Price Prediction: 🔍
Current Price Estimation: 🔒

0-DayUnlockUnlockUnlockUnlock
TodayUnlockUnlockUnlockUnlock

Threat Intelligenceinfo

Interest: 🔍
Active Actors: 🔍
Active APT Groups: 🔍

Countermeasuresinfo

Recommended: Upgrade
Status: 🔍

0-Day Time: 🔒

Upgrade: Kernel 6.12.101/6.18.42/7.1.6/7.2-rc4
Patch: 21512b5f7a74fd18c996c22e6854efe57d570816/133684982dd0c24359fcc641d19d89cc17d6e5ef/0a77d9fb4d5c0e01306cd406ffdee8f1fe955c0e/2b0eab425e1f658d8fe1df7590e3b9af5959505e

Timelineinfo

07/30/2026 CVE reserved
08/10/2026 +11 days Advisory disclosed
08/10/2026 +0 days VulDB entry created
08/10/2026 +0 days VulDB entry last update

Sourcesinfo

Vendor: kernel.org

Advisory: git.kernel.org
Status: Confirmed

CVE: CVE-2026-68408 (🔒)
GCVE (CVE): GCVE-0-2026-68408
GCVE (VulDB): GCVE-100-387781

Entryinfo

Created: 08/10/2026 18:42
Changes: 08/10/2026 18:42 (59)
Complete: 🔍
Cache ID: 216::103

If you want to get the best quality for vulnerability data then you always have to consider VulDB.

Discussion

No comments yet. Languages: en.

Please log in to comment.

Are you interested in using VulDB?

Download the whitepaper to learn more about our service!