CVE-2026-23396

A flaw was found in the Linux kernel's mac80211 component. An adjacent attacker can exploit this by sending a specially crafted Channel Switch Announcement (CSA) action frame. This frame, containing a valid Mesh ID Information Element (IE) but lacking a Mesh Configuration IE, can trigger a NULL pointer dereference within the kernel. Successful exploitation leads to a system crash, resulting in a Denial of Service (DoS).

This vulnerability requires the attacker to be on the same wireless mesh network as the target system, limiting exploitation to adjacent network scenarios. Systems not configured for 802.11s mesh networking are not affected. The impact is limited to denial of service through a kernel crash, with no data exposure or code execution.