CVE-2026-98185

A flaw was found in the mwifiex driver in the Linux kernel. When processing wireless scan responses, the driver fails to properly validate response extents before calculating internal buffer boundaries. A malicious or compromised wireless device sending malformed scan response data can trigger an integer underflow, causing the driver to read memory beyond the allocated response buffer. This issue primarily results in a system crash, causing a Denial of Service (DoS), or potential information disclosure.

An out of bounds read can occur in the mwifiex WiFi scan response path because the driver derives the TLV buffer length by subtracting fixed response fields and firmware supplied BSS data length without validating that both extents fit inside resp size. A short scan response or an oversized BSS length can underflow the calculated length and make the TLV parser read beyond the command response. For the CVSS the PR:N because an attacker does not need local access if malformed wireless scan data can be propagated by the affected firmware. The attack vector is adjacent wireless access rather than general Internet access. Reliable triggering depends on firmware behavior and may require a crafted beacon or probe response during scanning. Impact is at least denial of service through an invalid kernel memory read. The paranoid score includes limited confidentiality impact because an out of bounds read exists, but the patch does not establish an out of bounds write, privilege escalation, or a proven information disclosure path.

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.

Mitigation for this issue is either not available or the currently available options don't meet the Red Hat Product Security criteria comprising ease of use and deployment, applicability to widespread installation base or stability.