[CVE-2026-46248][LOW] wifi: ath12k: clear stale link mapping of ahvif->links_map [ Upstream

[CVE-2026-46248][LOW] wifi: ath12k: clear stale link mapping of ahvif->links_map [ Upstream

[AL-KERNEL]

CVE: CVE-2026-46248
Priority: LOW
AL-KERNEL base severity: LOW
KPANIC flag: NO
Patch: wifi: ath12k: clear stale link mapping of ahvif->links_map [ Upstream
Commit: da289440f04c93048d82d293b180f1cacdfee2d9
Upstream patch: https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git/commit/?id=da289440f04c93048d82d293b180f1cacdfee2d9
Original CVE announcement: https://lore.kernel.org/linux-cve-announce/?q=CVE-2026-46248
Analysis date: Wed, 03 Jun 2026 14:50:35 -0400
ActionableScore: 2
ActionableScore lower bound: 1
Actionable bucket: Ordinary Moderate / Low-like
Manual review required: NO

Summary:
A stale ath12k MLO link mapping after failed STA connection preparation can trigger WARN_ON during later link reuse and disrupt WiFi connectivity, but the patch does not support a concrete memory corruption or privilege escalation primitive.

======================================================================
ABOUT THIS REPORT
======================================================================

The original Linux kernel CVE announcement for CVE-2026-46248 is available here:
https://lore.kernel.org/linux-cve-announce/?q=CVE-2026-46248

The original announcement does not normally provide a security severity
estimate, CVSS assessment, or enough information to determine whether the
reported kernel bug represents a practically relevant security issue.

This report was generated by AL-KERNEL, an AI-assisted Linux kernel
vulnerability analysis system developed by Alexander Larkin. It combines
an autonomous classifier with LLM-assisted technical analysis and a
separate ActionableScore mechanism.

The purpose of this report is to prioritize Linux kernel CVEs before
manual review, identify cases that require prompt investigation, and
support automatic closure of issues that are unlikely to have meaningful
security impact.

Published priority for this report: LOW
Manual review required: NO

A detailed explanation of the methodology and priority rules is included
at the end of this message.

======================================================================
AL-KERNEL CLASSIFICATION RESULT
======================================================================

CVE-2026-46248	LOW	CHECK	Maybe valid. Check manually. Hints by AL-KERNEL: The best (paranoid) CVSS is 'AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H';CWE-459;*CWE-664;CWE-754;Other CVSS 'AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L';BEST CVSS score: '4.7';DESCR 'ath12k can leave a stale link mapping in ahvif links_map when MLO connection preparation fails after an arvif is initialized but before the arvif is created. A later connection attempt that reuses the same link id can hit a WARN_ON in ath12k_mac_op_change_vif_links and fail the link update, which can disrupt WiFi connectivity and may become a kernel panic only on systems configured to panic on warnings. For the CVSS the PR:L is used for the paranoid score because triggering normally requires a local user or local service able to initiate or influence station connection management, not a remote packet-only attacker. The issue is not directly network reachable as a standalone remote attack, although a nearby AP may influence connection failure conditions after a local connection attempt. Impact is mainly denial of service to the affected wireless function, with no concrete UAF, OOB write, information leak, or privilege escalation primitive supported by the diff.';NO MANUAL CHECK; ,and ActionableScore result is Ordinary Moderate / Low-like (with actual score 2) 	MAYBE	REMOTE ERRORPATH NETWORK HARDWARE LINUS  DECREASED_TO_MODERATE_REGULAR_FROM_MODERATE7_BASED_ON_GUESSCVSS_AND_CIANNH DECREASED_TO_LOW_FROM_MODERATE_BASED_ON_ACTIONABLESCORELESSTHAN3	-	-	checked

======================================================================
ACTIONABLESCORE ANALYSIS
======================================================================

ActionableScore=2
ActionableScoreLower=1

## 1. ActionableScore

* Conservative score: **1**
* Paranoid score: **2**
* Final recommended bucket: **Ordinary Moderate / Low-like**

## 2. Signal breakdown

Conservative signals:

* Local unprivileged trigger: **+1**. A local user or local network-management service may initiate WiFi association attempts that reach the nl80211/cfg80211/mac80211/ath12k path.
* Availability impact realistic: **+1**. The stale mapping can cause WARN_ON and failed link update, disrupting WiFi connectivity.
* Rare AND difficult-to-reach subsystem/configuration: **-1**. This is specific to ath12k, MLO preparation, non-AP STA mode, and a failed preparation path.

Paranoid additional interpretation:

* Firmware-mediated or environment-mediated external influence: **+1**. A nearby AP or association environment may help trigger failed MLO preparation, but this is not a direct remote kernel attack.
* No generic memory corruption: **+0**. The patch shows stale mapping cleanup, but does not prove UAF, OOB write, controlled overwrite, or object reclaim.
* No privilege escalation plausible signal: **+0**. The evidence supports WARN_ON/connectivity failure, not LPE.
* No reliable strong DoS by default: **+0**. WARN_ON becomes a kernel panic mainly on systems with panic_on_warn or similar policy.

## 3. Reachability analysis

The bug is reached through WiFi station connection management, likely via wpa_supplicant or a privileged network-management stack using nl80211. A normal local user may indirectly trigger it on systems that allow users to manage WiFi connections, so PR:L is a reasonable paranoid CVSS-style interpretation. Direct raw control of nl80211 authentication paths may require CAP_NET_ADMIN, but typical desktop and client deployments delegate this through privileged services.

It is not directly network reachable as a packet-only remote attack. A nearby AP can influence association or MLO failure conditions, but the local system must still attempt the connection. The path is limited to ath12k hardware and MLO-capable WiFi scenarios, so exposure is not broad/default for generic Linux systems.

## 4. Severity interpretation

This behaves more like **ordinary Moderate / Low-like** than Important. The patch fixes stale state in `ahvif->links_map` after an initialized but not created `arvif` is left behind. The demonstrated outcome is WARN_ON and failed link update.

Theoretical concern is limited stale-object bookkeeping, but the diff does not show a freed object being dereferenced, attacker-controlled memory reuse, OOB write, info leak, or privilege escalation primitive. Realistic impact is WiFi functionality disruption, with possible kernel panic only under panic-on-warning configurations.

## 5. One-sentence report phrase

A stale ath12k MLO link mapping after failed STA connection preparation can trigger WARN_ON during later link reuse and disrupt WiFi connectivity, but the patch does not support a concrete memory corruption or privilege escalation primitive.

## 6. Manual review recommendation

**NO MANUAL CHECK NEEDED**

Reason: the issue is hardware/subsystem-specific, local or locally mediated, and the demonstrated impact is WARN_ON/connectivity DoS without evidence of UAF, OOB write, information disclosure, or LPE.

======================================================================
UPSTREAM PATCH SUMMARY
======================================================================

Patch: wifi: ath12k: clear stale link mapping of ahvif->links_map [ Upstream
Commit: da289440f04c93048d82d293b180f1cacdfee2d9
Upstream URL: https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git/commit/?id=da289440f04c93048d82d293b180f1cacdfee2d9

Changed files:
  drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath12k/mac.c

Diff excerpt:

Not included in this email. See the upstream URL for the full patch.

Full patch:
https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git/commit/?id=da289440f04c93048d82d293b180f1cacdfee2d9

======================================================================
DETAILED REPORT METHODOLOGY
======================================================================

The original Linux kernel CVE announcement for CVE-2026-46248 can be found here:
https://lore.kernel.org/linux-cve-announce/?q=CVE-2026-46248

The original CVE announcement normally does not include a security-level
estimate. In particular, it may not contain a CVSS assessment, an impact
level, or enough information to determine whether the reported bug is a
practically relevant security issue. One purpose of this parallel CVE list
is to provide that missing technical and prioritization information.

The original goal of the AL-KERNEL project was to prioritize Linux kernel
CVE analysis automatically before manual review. The system can also help
identify non-security issues that may be suitable for automatic closure.

This report was generated by AL-KERNEL, an AI-assisted Linux kernel
vulnerability analysis system developed by Alexander Larkin.

The first analysis stage combines an autonomous classifier with additional
LLM-based analysis. The autonomous classifier runs locally on a CPU and is
based on a backpropagation neural network. Together, these mechanisms
produce a technical vulnerability description, identify likely weakness
types, estimate CVSS severity, and provide input for ActionableScore.

Two CVSS estimates are retained because incomplete kernel vulnerability
information often permits more than one defensible interpretation:

  Conservative CVSS vector: AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L
  The Best / paranoid CVSS vector: AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
  The Best / paranoid CVSS score: 4.7

The conservative vector represents a lower-impact interpretation.
The Best/paranoid vector intentionally represents a plausible upper-bound
interpretation and should not automatically be treated as demonstrated
real-world impact.

CVSS may also need to be adjusted for a particular Linux deployment,
because actual reachability, privileges, enabled kernel configuration,
hardware, namespaces, exposed device nodes, and other environmental
conditions can differ significantly between systems.

A separate ActionableScore mechanism evaluates practical remediation
urgency. Its analysis may include reachability, attack prerequisites,
subsystem exposure, memory-corruption characteristics, denial-of-service
reliability, and possible confidentiality, integrity, or
privilege-escalation impact.

  Conservative ActionableScore: 1
  Paranoid ActionableScore: 2

The final base severity is taken directly from the second tab-separated
field of the AL-KERNEL classification result. ActionableScore does not
replace or independently override that final AL-KERNEL decision, and
if ActionableScore adjusted impact level of ALKERNEL, then you would see
self-readable flags above like INCREASED_TO_HIGH_BASED_ON_ACTIONABLESCOREHIGHEREQTHAN7.

For an AL-KERNEL result of MODERATE, this report uses the following
additional presentation split:

  ActionableScore below 5   -> MODERATE REGULAR
  ActionableScore 5 or more -> MODERATE 7.0

The distinction between MODERATE REGULAR and MODERATE 7.0 makes it
possible to identify Moderate issues that should receive manual analysis
and fixes before lower-priority MODERATE REGULAR issues. In many cases,
MODERATE REGULAR fixes may wait for a later rebase or routine update.

There is one override in which MODERATE REGULAR becomes MODERATE 7.0
even when the ActionableScore is below 5. When the AL-KERNEL result
contains the KPANIC flag, a MODERATE result is always presented as
MODERATE 7.0. The KPANIC flag selected with few regexps without
usage of AI at all, so it helps to detect cases when Kernel Crash happens
and similar (to filter False-Negative results from the LLM usage).

KPANIC indicates that a reliable kernel crash, kernel panic, or similarly
serious kernel availability impact was identified by the classification
workflow.

AL-KERNEL base severity for this report: LOW
KPANIC detected for this report: NO
Published priority for this report (same as in Subject): LOW

These results are intended to support engineering triage. They are
machine-generated estimates, and cases marked for manual review should
be validated by a human security engineer before final disposition.
For more info read docs linked from here: https://kernelcve.org/
(and you can submit you own patch there to generate such a report
for non-existant CVE-id yet).

Note that in many cases this AI tool selects higher severity, than
real is (means you can expect Importants instead of Moderate 7.0 or
Moderates 7.0 instead of regular Moderates). If you see such cases,
please use reply email interface to add additional manual analyses
info to this particular CVE.
And please, please, let me know when you see Lows instead of Importants
or Important instead of Low (because particular for such cases I
need to tune this AI tool to make it better for this one and next similar).
My contact email for such notifications is alexanjelausa@gmail.com (and both
send reply to CVE record itself too and see "reply" button below for howto reply).