VulnerabilityPublished 16 Sep 2026Updated 21 Oct 2026

CVE-2026-90016: Linux kernel · staging: rtl8723bs: fix OOB read in rtw_restruct_wmm_ie()

Affects Linux kernelSource CVE Database V5

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 7.1 High · fixed in fd19b8895f8a91087e8a62f1e27b128025dabb95 : patch Linux kernel soon.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 19:55 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

7.1High

How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.

EPSS: 0.3% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 32% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
Patch: Available – fixed in fd19b8895f8a91087e8a62f1e27b128025dabb95, e63b72c5d7336981dfc05e5cb92becff29dfea00, 716850842d2f103f915fe7c857ff1a0a036491b4 +2

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

Attack Vector: Adjacent
Attack Complexity: Low
Privileges Required: None
User Interaction: None
Scope: Unchanged
Confidentiality: Low
Integrity: None
Availability: High

Bold values are the worst case: easiest to exploit or largest impact.

Attack Vector: Adjacent: The vulnerable component is bound to the network stack, but the attack is limited at the protocol level to a logically adjacent topology. This can mean an attack must be launched from the same shared physical (e.g., Bluetooth or IEEE 802.11) or logical (e.g., local IP subnet) network, or from within a secure or otherwise limited administrative domain (e.g., MPLS, secure VPN to an administrative network zone).
Attack Complexity: Low: Specialized access conditions or extenuating circumstances do not exist. An attacker can expect repeatable success against the vulnerable component.
Privileges Required: None: The attacker is unauthorized prior to attack, and therefore does not require any access to settings or files to carry out an attack.
User Interaction: None: The vulnerable system can be exploited without any interaction from any user.
Scope: Unchanged: An exploited vulnerability can only affect resources managed by the same security authority. In this case, the vulnerable component and the impacted component are either the same, or both are managed by the same security authority.
Confidentiality: Low: There is some loss of confidentiality. Access to some restricted information is obtained, but the attacker does not have control over what information is obtained, or the amount or kind of loss is limited. The information disclosure does not cause a direct, serious loss to the impacted component.
Integrity: None: There is no loss of integrity within the impacted component.
Availability: High: There is total loss of availability, resulting in the attacker being able to fully deny access to resources in the impacted component; this loss is either sustained (while the attacker continues to deliver the attack) or persistent (the condition persists even after the attack has completed). Alternatively, the attacker has the ability to deny some availability, but the loss of availability presents a direct, serious consequence to the impacted component (e.g., the attacker cannot disrupt existing connections, but can prevent new connections; the attacker can repeatedly exploit a vulnerability that, in each instance of a successful attack, leaks a only small amount of memory, but after repeated exploitation causes a service to become completely unavailable).

Definitions: FIRST CVSS v3.1 specification.

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 16 Sep 2026
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponised: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: no evidence on record.
Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by Mirage: no evidence on record.
No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors

A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 26 Oct 2026.

Disclosed: The CVE record is public on cve.org. Its publication is t = 0.
Detectable: A public nuclei template can find exposed instances, for defenders and attackers alike.
Weaponised: Public exploit code exists in Metasploit or Exploit-DB, or CISA SSVC or the CVSS exploit maturity reports a public proof of concept.
Exploited in the wild: CISA KEV lists it, CISA SSVC rates exploitation active, or a source reports attacks.
Observed by OffSeq Mirage: OffSeq Mirage honeypot sensors recorded attack traffic for this CVE, or found exposed hosts without attack traffic.

Moments are spaced evenly, not to scale; a dashed line marks a gap of six months or more. Deltas count from t = 0. Sources that give only a date (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, or a time of exactly 00:00Z) read “same day” rather than hours. Metasploit modules carry the flaw’s disclosure date, not their release date, and nuclei templates carry no date, so both appear above but not on the timeline.

What to do

Upgrade to a fixed release listed under Affected software.

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
LinuxLinux	Affected ≥ 554c0a3abf216c991c5ebddcdb2c08689ecd290b, < fd19b8895f8a91087e8a62f1e27b128025dabb95	Fixed in fd19b8895f8a91087e8a62f1e27b128025dabb95
LinuxLinux	Affected ≥ 554c0a3abf216c991c5ebddcdb2c08689ecd290b, < e63b72c5d7336981dfc05e5cb92becff29dfea00	Fixed in e63b72c5d7336981dfc05e5cb92becff29dfea00
LinuxLinux	Affected ≥ 554c0a3abf216c991c5ebddcdb2c08689ecd290b, < 716850842d2f103f915fe7c857ff1a0a036491b4	Fixed in 716850842d2f103f915fe7c857ff1a0a036491b4
LinuxLinux	Affected ≥ 554c0a3abf216c991c5ebddcdb2c08689ecd290b, < 4420cc71841b50e31a7868ef7acb011c0e08d294	Fixed in 4420cc71841b50e31a7868ef7acb011c0e08d294
LinuxLinux	Affected ≥ 554c0a3abf216c991c5ebddcdb2c08689ecd290b, < 28a289beaf226b30b1e6e7d7b1a2946fe2d6e852	Fixed in 28a289beaf226b30b1e6e7d7b1a2946fe2d6e852
LinuxLinux	Affected =4.12	Fixed in–

AI-suggested

This vulnerability has been fixed in the Linux kernel. Users and administrators should update to the fixed kernel versions identified by the commits fd19b8895f8a91087e8a62f1e27b128025dabb95, e63b72c5d7336981dfc05e5cb92becff29dfea00, 716850842d2f103f915fe7c857ff1a0a036491b4, 4420cc71841b50e31a7868ef7acb011c0e08d294, and 28a289beaf226b30b1e6e7d7b1a2946fe2d6e852. No additional mitigation is required beyond applying these official fixes.

Description

CVE-2026-90016 is a high-severity vulnerability in the Linux kernel's staging driver for rtl8723bs. It involves an out-of-bounds (OOB) read in the function rtw_restruct_wmm_ie(), which processes WMM IE elements in association or scan data. The flaw occurs when the code advances beyond the buffer boundary without proper bounds checking, potentially reading attacker-controlled data. This issue has been fixed in specific Linux kernel commits.

Impact

An attacker can cause the kernel to perform a one-byte out-of-bounds read of memory when processing crafted association or scan data. This can lead to information disclosure (read of potentially sensitive kernel memory) and may cause a denial of service (kernel crash). The CVSS score of 7.1 reflects a high severity with local attack vector, low complexity, no privileges required, no user interaction, unchanged scope, low confidentiality impact, no integrity impact, and high availability impact.

Summary

The vulnerability in the Linux kernel's rtl8723bs staging driver arises from improper bounds checking in the rtw_restruct_wmm_ie() function. The function scans an input buffer for a WMM IE element using a loop that checks if the current index plus 5 is less than the buffer length before matching. However, if no WMM IE is found near the buffer's end, the code falls through to increment the index by the length of the current IE element plus 2 without verifying that this increment stays within bounds. This results in a one-byte out-of-bounds read of an attacker-influenced buffer. The issue persisted even after a previous commit added a guard to the match condition but did not add a similar guard before the index increment. The fix adds an explicit bounds check before advancing to the next IE element to prevent OOB reads.

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 26 Oct 2026, 19:55 UTC

Technical details

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