Linux KernelOperating system · Linux

CVE-2026-64174

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2026-07-19
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 5.10.258 / 5.15.209 or later.
See remediation →
57/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Zero-click 4 weeks old

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 · unedited
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: wifi: cfg80211: advance loop vars in cfg80211_merge_profile() cfg80211_merge_profile() reassembles a Multi-BSSID non-transmitted BSS profile that has been split across multiple consecutive MBSSID elements. Its while-loop calls cfg80211_get_profile_continuation(ie, ielen, mbssid_elem, sub_elem) but never advances mbssid_elem or sub_elem inside the body. Each iteration therefore searches for a continuation that follows the same fixed pair; the helper returns the same next_mbssid; and the same next_sub bytes are memcpy()'d into merged_ie at a growing offset until the buffer fills. Advance both mbssid_elem and sub_elem to the just-consumed continuation so the next call to cfg80211_get_profile_continuation() searches for a further continuation beyond it (or returns NULL when none exists). A specially-crafted malicious beacon can take advantage of this bug to cause the kernel to spend an excessive amount of time in cfg80211_merge_profile (up to as much as 2ms per beacon received), which could theoretically be abused in some way.

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

A detailed technical summary for this CVE is being prepared.

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 data
Linux KernelOperating system
Affected:>= 5.2, < 5.10.258>= 5.11, < 5.15.209>= 5.16, < 6.1.175>= 6.2, < 6.6.142>= 6.7, < 6.12.92>= 6.13, < 6.18.34>= 6.19, < 7.0.11= 7.1

CVSS 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
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

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.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 5.10.258 / 5.15.209 / 6.1.175 or later
Fixed in 5.10.2585.15.2096.1.175
Recommended fix High confidence

Upgrade to kernel version 5.10.258 or later (if on 5.10.x), 5.15.209 or later (if on 5.15.x), 6.1.175 or later (if on 6.1.x), or 6.6.142 or later (if on 6.2-6.6.x)

  1. Identify the currently running kernel version using `uname -r`
  2. Determine the appropriate upgrade target based on current version: for 5.10.x series upgrade to >=5.10.258; for 5.15.x series upgrade to >=5.15.209; for 6.1.x series upgrade to >=6.1.175; for 6.2-6.6.x series upgrade to >=6.6.142
  3. Update the kernel package using the distribution's package manager (e.g., `apt-get update && apt-get install linux-image-<version>` for Debian/Ubuntu, or `yum update kernel` for RHEL/CentOS)
  4. Reboot the system to load the new kernel
  5. Verify the new kernel version is running using `uname -r`
Caveat This is a bug fix upgrade; no breaking changes expected. As with any kernel upgrade, ensure compatible drivers and modules are available for the new version.

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

We can perform the upgrade in your staging environment and verify nothing breaks — typical engagement from $1,600. Get the upgrade done

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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2026-64174 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

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What belongs here
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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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