CVE-2026-20452
Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.
NVD · uneditedIn wlan AP driver, there is a possible memory corruption due to a heap buffer overflow. This could lead to remote (proximal/adjacent) code execution with User execution privileges needed. User interaction is not needed for exploitation. Patch ID: WCNCR00480138; Issue ID: MSV-6295.
Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.
dbcve analysis · high confidenceA heap buffer overflow vulnerability exists in the WLAN AP driver that allows remote (proximal/adjacent) attackers to achieve code execution with user-level privileges. The overflow occurs in memory handling within the driver's processing of wireless network data, and no user interaction is required for exploitation.
Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.
Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.
NVD · CPE dataall versionsall versionsall versionsall versionsall versionsall versionsall versionsall versionsCVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.
From the vector- Attack vector
- Adjacent
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.
dbcve checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify MediaTek WiFi chip in useCheck system information or network hardware details to determine if a MediaTek wireless chip is present. Common methods: 'lspci -v' for PCIe WiFi cards, 'lsusb' for USB adapters, or check router/single-board-computer documentation or /proc/cpuinfo for embedded devices.Affected if The system uses any of these MediaTek chips: Mt6890, Mt7615, Mt7915, Mt7916, Mt7981, Mt7986, Mt7990, or Mt7992.
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Check if WLAN AP driver is loadedOn Linux systems, verify if the MediaTek wireless driver module is loaded. Commands: 'lsmod | grep -i mt' or 'iw list' to enumerate wireless interfaces and their drivers.Affected if A MediaTek wireless driver (such as mt76) is loaded and managing a wireless interface.
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Verify AP/mesh mode is enabledCheck if the wireless interface is operating in AP, mesh, or bridge mode. Commands: 'iw dev' or 'ip link show' followed by 'iwconfig' or 'iw dev <interface> info' to see the operational mode.Affected if The wireless interface is configured as an access point (AP), mesh node, or ad-hoc mode, as the vulnerability exists in the WLAN AP driver.
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Confirm adjacent network exposureDetermine if the device is reachable from proximal/adjacent network locations. Check if the AP is serving clients or if the device has wireless connectivity that could be accessed by a nearby attacker.Affected if The device is functioning as a WiFi AP or mesh node and is within range of potential attackers, creating an adjacent network attack surface.
A user is affected if their system contains any of the listed MediaTek WiFi chips (Mt6890, Mt7615, Mt7915, Mt7916, Mt7981, Mt7986, Mt7990, Mt7992) and has the WLAN AP driver enabled with an active AP or mesh configuration accessible to adjacent attackers.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.
From vendor dataApply patch WCNCR00480138 to the WLAN AP driver. Until the patch is available, minimize exposure by restricting physical/proximal access to the wireless network and disabling AP mode if not needed.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2026-20452 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2026-20452 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
- No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
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