CVE-2026-68191: wifi: ath12k: fix NULL pointer dereference in rhash table destroy

Q: What is the severity of CVE-2026-68191?

CVE-2026-68191 has a risk rating of 27.

Q: What does CVE-2026-68191 affect?

CVE-2026-68191 affects the ath12k driver in the Linux kernel.

Q: How do I fix CVE-2026-68191?

To fix CVE-2026-68191, update your Linux kernel to the latest version where the vulnerability has been patched.

Q: What kind of vulnerability is CVE-2026-68191?

CVE-2026-68191 is classified as a null pointer dereference vulnerability.

Q: What happens if CVE-2026-68191 is exploited?

Exploitation of CVE-2026-68191 can result in kernel crashes due to a null pointer dereference.

Published Aug 10, 2026

Updated

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

wifi: ath12k: fix NULL pointer dereference in rhash table destroy

When unbinding the ath12k driver, kernel NULL pointer dereferences occur in irqworksync() called from rhashtabledestroy().

Two hash tables are affected: 1. ath12klinksta hash table in ath12kbase 2. ath12kdplinkpeer hash table in ath12kdp

The issue happens because the destroy functions are called unconditionally in cleanup paths, but the hash tables are only initialized late in their respective init functions. If the device was never fully started or if the init functions failed before initializing the hash tables, the pointers will be NULL. The issues are always reproducible from a VM because the MSI addressing initialization is failing.

Call trace for ath12klinkstarhashtbldestroy: RIP: irqworksync+0x1e/0x70 rhashtabledestroy+0x12/0x60 ath12klinkstarhashtbldestroy+0x19/0x40 [ath12k] ath12kcorestop+0xe/0x80 [ath12k] ath12kcorehwgroupcleanup+0x6b/0xb0 [ath12k] ath12kpciremove+0x60/0x110 [ath12k]

Call trace for ath12kdplinkpeerrhashtbldestroy: RIP: irqworksync+0x1e/0x70 rhashtabledestroy+0x12/0x60 ath12kdplinkpeerrhashtbldestroy+0x29/0x50 [ath12k] ath12kdpcmndevicedeinit+0x21/0x140 [ath12k] ath12kcorehwgroupcleanup+0x6b/0xb0 [ath12k] ath12kpciremove+0x60/0x110 [ath12k]

Fix this by adding NULL checks before calling rhashtabledestroy() in both destroy functions.

The NULL check approach was chosen because the rhashtable pointer serves as the initialization state indicator. The init can fail at various points, leaving some components uninitialized. Checking the pointer directly is simpler than adding separate state flags that would need synchronization.

Affected Software

125 affected componentsFixes available

Linux Kernel

ubuntu/linux-hwe-edge*

ubuntu/linux-aws-5.0*

ubuntu/linux-aws-5.3*

ubuntu/linux-azure*

ubuntu/linux-azure-5.3*

ubuntu/linux-azure-edge*

ubuntu/linux-gcp*

ubuntu/linux-gcp-5.3*

ubuntu/linux-gke-4.15*

ubuntu/linux-gke-5.4*

ubuntu/linux-gkeop-5.4*

ubuntu/linux-hwe*

ubuntu/linux-hwe-edge*

ubuntu/linux-oem*

ubuntu/linux-oracle-5.0*

ubuntu/linux-oracle-5.3*

ubuntu/linux-aws-5.11*

ubuntu/linux-aws-5.13*

ubuntu/linux-aws-5.8*

ubuntu/linux-azure-5.11*

ubuntu/linux-azure-5.13*

ubuntu/linux-azure-5.8*

ubuntu/linux-azure-fde*

ubuntu/linux-gcp-5.11*

ubuntu/linux-gcp-5.13*

ubuntu/linux-gcp-5.8*

ubuntu/linux-gke*

ubuntu/linux-gke-5.15*

ubuntu/linux-gkeop*

ubuntu/linux-gkeop-5.15*

ubuntu/linux-hwe-5.11*

ubuntu/linux-hwe-5.13*

ubuntu/linux-hwe-5.8*

ubuntu/linux-intel-5.13*

ubuntu/linux-oem-5.10*

ubuntu/linux-oem-5.13*

ubuntu/linux-oem-5.6*

ubuntu/linux-oracle-5.11*

ubuntu/linux-oracle-5.13*

ubuntu/linux-oracle-5.8*

ubuntu/linux-raspi2*

ubuntu/linux-riscv*

ubuntu/linux-riscv-5.11*

ubuntu/linux-riscv-5.8*

ubuntu/linux-allwinner-5.19*

ubuntu/linux-aws-5.19*

ubuntu/linux-aws-6.2*

ubuntu/linux-aws-6.5*

ubuntu/linux-azure-5.19*

ubuntu/linux-azure-6.2*

ubuntu/linux-azure-6.5*

ubuntu/linux-azure-fde-5.19*

ubuntu/linux-azure-fde-6.2*

ubuntu/linux-gcp-5.19*

ubuntu/linux-gcp-6.2*

ubuntu/linux-gcp-6.5*

ubuntu/linux-hwe-5.19*

ubuntu/linux-hwe-6.2*

ubuntu/linux-hwe-6.5*

ubuntu/linux-intel-iot-realtime*

ubuntu/linux-lowlatency-hwe-5.19*

ubuntu/linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.2*

ubuntu/linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.5*

ubuntu/linux-nvidia-6.2*

ubuntu/linux-nvidia-6.5*

ubuntu/linux-oem-5.17*

ubuntu/linux-oem-6.0*

ubuntu/linux-oem-6.1*

ubuntu/linux-oem-6.5*

ubuntu/linux-oracle-6.5*

ubuntu/linux-realtime*

ubuntu/linux-riscv*

ubuntu/linux-riscv-5.19*

ubuntu/linux-riscv-6.5*

ubuntu/linux-starfive-5.19*

ubuntu/linux-starfive-6.2*

ubuntu/linux-starfive-6.5*

ubuntu/linux-aws-6.14*

ubuntu/linux-aws-6.17*

ubuntu/linux-aws-7.0<7.0.0-1014.14~24.04.1

7.0.0-1014.14~24.04.1

ubuntu/linux-azure-6.11*

ubuntu/linux-azure-6.14*

ubuntu/linux-azure-6.17*

ubuntu/linux-azure-7.0<7.0.0-1017.17~24.04.1

7.0.0-1017.17~24.04.1

ubuntu/linux-azure-fde-6.14*

ubuntu/linux-azure-fde-6.17*

ubuntu/linux-azure-fde-7.0<7.0.0-1016.16~24.04.1

7.0.0-1016.16~24.04.1

ubuntu/linux-azure-nvidia-6.14*

ubuntu/linux-gcp-6.11*

ubuntu/linux-gcp-6.14*

ubuntu/linux-gcp-7.0<7.0.0-1014.14~24.04.1

7.0.0-1014.14~24.04.1

ubuntu/linux-hwe-6.11*

ubuntu/linux-hwe-6.14*

ubuntu/linux-hwe-7.0<7.0.0-38.38~24.04.4

7.0.0-38.38~24.04.4

ubuntu/linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.11*

ubuntu/linux-nvidia-6.11*

ubuntu/linux-nvidia-7.0<7.0.0-1024.25~24.04.1

7.0.0-1024.25~24.04.1

ubuntu/linux-oem-6.11*

ubuntu/linux-oem-6.14*

ubuntu/linux-oem-6.8*

ubuntu/linux-oracle-6.14*

ubuntu/linux-oracle-7.0<7.0.0-1013.13~24.04.1

7.0.0-1013.13~24.04.1

ubuntu/linux-raspi-realtime*

ubuntu/linux-realtime*

ubuntu/linux-riscv*

ubuntu/linux-riscv-6.14*

ubuntu/linux-riscv-6.17*

ubuntu/linux-riscv-7.0<7.0.0-38.38.1~24.04.1

7.0.0-38.38.1~24.04.1

ubuntu/linux-realtime-6.14*

ubuntu/linux<7.0.0-38.38

7.0.0-38.38

ubuntu/linux-aws<7.0.0-1014.14

7.0.0-1014.14

ubuntu/linux-azure<7.0.0-1017.17

7.0.0-1017.17

ubuntu/linux-azure-fde<7.0.0-1016.16

7.0.0-1016.16

ubuntu/linux-gcp<7.0.0-1014.14

7.0.0-1014.14

ubuntu/linux-gke<7.0.0-1008.9

7.0.0-1008.9

ubuntu/linux-ibm<7.0.0-1015.15

7.0.0-1015.15

ubuntu/linux-nvidia*

ubuntu/linux-nvidia-bos<7.0.0-2022.23

7.0.0-2022.23

ubuntu/linux-oem-7.0<7.0.0-1015.15

7.0.0-1015.15

ubuntu/linux-oracle<7.0.0-1013.13

7.0.0-1013.13

ubuntu/linux-raspi*

ubuntu/linux-realtime<7.0.0-38.38.1

7.0.0-38.38.1

ubuntu/linux-riscv<7.0.0-38.38.1

7.0.0-38.38.1

ubuntu/linux-vmware*

Remediation

Recommended actions to resolve this vulnerability, in priority order.

Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-aws-7.0 to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 7.0.0-1014.14~24.04.1
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-azure-7.0 to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 7.0.0-1017.17~24.04.1
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-azure-fde-7.0 to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 7.0.0-1016.16~24.04.1
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-gcp-7.0 to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 7.0.0-1014.14~24.04.1
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-hwe-7.0 to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 7.0.0-38.38~24.04.4
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-nvidia-7.0 to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 7.0.0-1024.25~24.04.1
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-oracle-7.0 to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 7.0.0-1013.13~24.04.1
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-riscv-7.0 to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 7.0.0-38.38.1~24.04.1
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 7.0.0-38.38
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-aws to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 7.0.0-1014.14
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-azure to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 7.0.0-1017.17
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-azure-fde to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 7.0.0-1016.16
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-gcp to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 7.0.0-1014.14
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-gke to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 7.0.0-1008.9
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-ibm to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 7.0.0-1015.15
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-nvidia-bos to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 7.0.0-2022.23
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-oem-7.0 to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 7.0.0-1015.15
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-oracle to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 7.0.0-1013.13
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-realtime to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 7.0.0-38.38.1
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-riscv to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 7.0.0-38.38.1

Event History

Aug 10, 2026

CVE Published

via MITRE·12:00 PM

Data Sourced

via MITRE·12:00 PM

Description

Data Sourced

via OSV·01:20 PM

DescriptionSeverityAffected Software

Data Sourced

via NVD·01:20 PM

Description

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the severity of CVE-2026-68191?

CVE-2026-68191 has a risk rating of 27.

What does CVE-2026-68191 affect?

CVE-2026-68191 affects the ath12k driver in the Linux kernel.

How do I fix CVE-2026-68191?

To fix CVE-2026-68191, update your Linux kernel to the latest version where the vulnerability has been patched.

What kind of vulnerability is CVE-2026-68191?

CVE-2026-68191 is classified as a null pointer dereference vulnerability.

What happens if CVE-2026-68191 is exploited?

Exploitation of CVE-2026-68191 can result in kernel crashes due to a null pointer dereference.

CVE-2026-68191: wifi: ath12k: fix NULL pointer dereference in rhash table destroy

Affected Software

Remediation

Event History

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the severity of CVE-2026-68191?

What does CVE-2026-68191 affect?

How do I fix CVE-2026-68191?

What kind of vulnerability is CVE-2026-68191?

What happens if CVE-2026-68191 is exploited?

Company

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