CVE-2026-68404: In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: wifi: cfg80211: use wiphy work for socket owner autodisconnect nl80211_netlink

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: wifi: cfg80211: use wiphy work for socket owner autodisconnect nl80211_netlink_notify() wa

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: wifi: cfg80211: use wiphy work for socket owner autodisconnect nl80211_netlink_notify() walks the cfg80211 wireless device list when a NETLINK_GENERIC socket is released. If the socket owns a connection, the notifier queues the embedded wdev->disconnect_wk work item. That work is a plain work_struct today. NETDEV_GOING_DOWN cancels it, but a NETLINK_URELEASE notifier that already observed conn_owner_nlportid can queue it after that cancel returns. _cfg80211_unregister_wdev() then removes the wdev from the list and waits for RCU readers, but synchronize_net() does not drain work queued by such a reader. Make the autodisconnect work a wiphy_work instead. The callback already needs the wiphy mutex, and wiphy_work runs under that mutex. This lets teardown cancel pending autodisconnect work while holding the mutex, without a cancel_work_sync() vs. worker locking concern. Also cancel the wiphy work after list_del_rcu() and synchronize_net(). Any NETLINK_URELEASE notifier that had already reached the wdev list has then either queued the work and it is removed, or can no longer find the wdev.

Description from the National Vulnerability Database, published by 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67

What it means for a small business

Linux is on the computers, phones or browsers your team uses every day. Turn on automatic updates and restart: most of these fixes only take effect after a restart.

How likely is an attack? The Exploit Prediction Scoring System, run by FIRST (the global association of security response teams), puts the odds of this one being exploited in the next 30 days at 0.17%, higher than 6% of CVEs. That’s low, but low isn’t zero, and the odds jump the day someone publishes an exploit. Scored October 29, 2026, updated daily.

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Sources

Part of the Huttenlocher Technologies vulnerability database, refreshed twice a day from CISA and the NVD. The title, category and plain-language guidance are ours; check the linked record before acting on a detail. This is general guidance, not a review of your systems.

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