CVE-2026-72005

wifi: rt2x00: avoid full teardown before work setup in probe

HIGH
7.8
CVSS Score
Published: August 15, 2026 at 05:51 AM UTC
Updated: October 19, 2026 at 10:17 PM UTC
1 product affected across 1 vendorLinux Kernel

Using Linux by Linux?

Get instant alerts when new vulnerabilities affect Linux - before attackers find them.

Real-time alertsTrack your software stackFree plan available
Severity
HIGH7.8
Exploit prediction
EPSS 0.2%
SSVC
No known exploit

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: wifi: rt2x00: avoid full teardown before work setup in probe rt2x00lib_probe_dev() uses the full rt2x00lib_remove_dev() teardown for all probe failures. However, drv_data allocation and workqueue allocation can fail before intf_work, autowakeup_work and sleep_work have been initialized. Do not enter the full remove path until the probe has reached the point where those work items are set up. Return directly for drv_data allocation failure, and use a small early cleanup path for workqueue allocation failure. This issue was found by our static analysis tool and then confirmed by manual review of rt2x00lib_probe_dev() and rt2x00lib_remove_dev(). The early probe exits should not call a common teardown path that assumes the later work setup has already completed. A QEMU PoC forced alloc_ordered_workqueue() to fail before the work initializers are reached. The resulting fail path entered rt2x00lib_remove_dev(), and DEBUG_OBJECTS reported invalid work drains with rt2x00lib_probe_dev() and rt2x00lib_remove_dev() in the stack.

Affected

Our own answer: ranges merged, affected separated from platform-only, with confidence and review flags.

0439f5367c8d8bb2ebaca8d7329f51f3148b2fb22.6.39439f5367c8d8bb2ebaca8d7329f51f3148b2fb2
Vendor states this is fixed in 3c0427d719bddb33caf18ff4ffb77cb47de7eb00 (fixed)
Vendor states this is fixed in 536fb3d739d75a03cb318c0c6fe799425cfea501 (fixed)
Vendor states this is fixed in 56994852d704535ea354a4627ca667b1b4fa0deb (fixed)
Vendor states this is fixed in 59afe6148927395cf86f9429900e029a48b1d42b (fixed)
Vendor states this is fixed in 66bd9b1a72de7c2f5141b02d796048aafaed8a49 (fixed)
Vendor states this is fixed in 816559409e340acaa5c9d868291dab30d8c80263 (fixed)
Vendor states this is fixed in 8b58d1f1356df6a7d2de3f55bb665b18b04ffda0 (fixed)
Vendor states this is fixed in eb7474d0253bb2de4793e1d3ce833e8564bbe732 (fixed)
Vendor states this is fixed in 2.6.39 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 5.10.261 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 5.15.212 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 6.1.178 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 6.12.97 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 6.18.40 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 6.6.145 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 7.1.5 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 7.2 (unaffected)

Remediation

No guide yet

No remediation guidance has been written for this CVE yet, and no fixed version or vendor advisory is recorded against it.

SSVC — Action Prioritization

SSVCNo known exploitNot automatableTotal impact

SSVC signals action urgency (what to patch first), separate from CVSS which measures severity.

CVSS

7.8HIGHLinux
Vector?

Quick Info

StatusRECEIVED
CWE
CWE-404

Get alerted

Stop reading CVE feeds looking for your own stack

Track the products you run and VulnTracker tells you when a new CVE affects them — with what is known about fixing it, and nothing about the rest.

Free plan, no card