CVE-2026-72490

A flaw was found in the Linux kernel's rtl8723bs Wi-Fi driver. An incorrect null-pointer guard in the rtw_aes_decrypt function could lead to the system misinterpreting memory addresses. This issue may result in a system crash, causing a Denial of Service (DoS).

A moderate-impact flaw was found in the Linux kernel's rtl8723bs Wi-Fi driver, in the rtw_aes_decrypt function in drivers/staging/rtl8723bs/core/rtw_security.c. The null-pointer guard for the station-information pointer was inverted, returning a failure code for a valid pointer while continuing to process an invalid one. This could cause the system to misinterpret memory addresses and crash, resulting in a denial of service. Red Hat rates this flaw as Moderate severity with a CVSS 3.1 score of 5.5 (AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H), reflecting a local attack vector that requires privileges and impact limited to availability. All Red Hat Enterprise Linux and Red Hat In-Vehicle OS kernel update streams, including the kernel, kernel-rt, and kernel-ivos-qualcomm components, have been assessed as not affected because the vulnerable rtl8723bs staging driver code is not present in the kernels shipped by Red Hat; consequently, no Red Hat product is exposed to this issue.

The CVSS score(s) listed for this vulnerability do not reflect the associated product's status, and are included for informational purposes to better understand the severity of this vulnerability.