CVE-2026-63821 json
wifi: rtw88: usb: fix memory leaks on USB write failures
published 3mo ago modified 2mo ago also EUVD-2026-45487
- cvss
- —
- not scored
- cisa kev
- Not listed
- not in CISA's catalog
- epss
- 0.2%
- EPSS 0.2% chance of exploitation in 30 days, percentile 5%
- public exploits
- 0
- none known
Summary
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
wifi: rtw88: usb: fix memory leaks on USB write failures
When rtw_usb_write_port() fails to submit a USB Request Block (URB) (e.g., due to device disconnect or ENOMEM), the completion callback is never executed.
Currently, the driver ignores the return value of rtw_usb_write_port() in rtw_usb_write_data() and rtw_usb_tx_agg_skb(). Because these functions rely on the completion callback to free the socket buffers (skbs) and the transaction control block (txcb), a submission failure results in: 1. A memory leak of the allocated skb in rtw_usb_write_data(). 2. A memory leak of the txcb structure and all aggregated skbs in rtw_usb_tx_agg_skb().
Fix this by checking the return value of rtw_usb_write_port(). If it fails, explicitly free the skb in rtw_usb_write_data(), and properly purge the tx_ack_queue and free the txcb in rtw_usb_tx_agg_skb().
The issue was discovered in practice during device disconnect/reconnect scenarios and memory pressure conditions. Tested by verifying normal TX operation continues after the fix without regressions.
Patch / fix
- Linux Linux 6.6.144, 6.12.95, 6.18.38, 7.1.3, 7.2
- linux Debian 13 6.12.95-1
- linux Debian 14 7.1.3-1
debian advisories DEBIAN-CVE-2026-63821
- linux Ubuntu 24.04 LTS 6.8.0-147.147
- linux Ubuntu 26.04 LTS 7.0.0-31.31
- linux-aws Ubuntu 24.04 LTS 6.8.0-1067.70
- linux-aws Ubuntu 26.04 LTS 7.0.0-1012.12
- linux-gcp Ubuntu 24.04 LTS 6.8.0-1071.79
- linux-gcp Ubuntu 26.04 LTS 7.0.0-1011.11
- linux-gke Ubuntu 24.04 LTS 6.8.0-1066.74
- linux-gke Ubuntu 26.04 LTS 7.0.0-1006.7
ubuntu advisories UBUNTU-CVE-2026-63821
Ubuntu security data © Canonical Ltd., from https://github.com/canonical/ubuntu-security-notices via OSV; changed: normalised to fixed package versions per release. CC BY-SA 4.0
- kernel-rt Real Time Module 15 SP7 6.4.0-150700.7.72.1
- kernel-syms-rt Real Time Module 15 SP7 6.4.0-150700.7.72.1
- kernel-source-rt Real Time Module 15 SP7 6.4.0-150700.7.72.1
- kernel-64kb SLE Module for Basesystem 15 SP7 6.4.0-150700.53.78.1
- kernel-syms SLE Module for Development Tools 15 SP7 6.4.0-150700.53.78.1
- kernel-azure SLE Module for Public Cloud 15 SP7 6.4.0-150700.53.78.1
- kernel-source SLE Module for Development Tools 15 SP7, SLE Module for Basesystem 15 SP7 6.4.0-150700.53.78.1
- kernel-default SLE Workstation Extension 15 SP7, SLE Module for Legacy 15 SP7, SLE Module for Basesystem 15 SP7 +2 more 6.4.0-150700.53.78.1
suse advisories SUSE-SU-2026:3810-1SUSE-SU-2026:3790-1SUSE-SU-2026:23244-1SUSE-SU-2026:23241-1SUSE-SU-2026:23194-1SUSE-SU-2026:23193-1
- kernel-rt openSUSE Leap 16.0 6.12.0-160000.37.1
- dtb-aarch64 openSUSE Leap 16.0 6.12.0-160000.37.1
- kernel-64kb openSUSE Leap 16.0 6.12.0-160000.37.1
- kernel-syms openSUSE Leap 16.0 6.12.0-160000.37.1
- kernel-azure openSUSE Leap 16.0 6.12.0-160000.37.1
- kernel-obs-qa openSUSE Leap 16.0 6.12.0-160000.37.1
- kernel-source openSUSE Leap 16.0 6.12.0-160000.37.1
- kernel-default openSUSE Leap 16.0 6.12.0-160000.37.1
opensuse advisories openSUSE-SU-2026:21555-1openSUSE-SU-2026:11339-1
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/2b2060c2075a72bc2de43ce5e1b9347d6c5e27bb commit
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/53fed4061a09755de99c89fdc7fae5b794da455f commit
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/200d58c851b8f63f77a05570072dd20f79bc3681 commit
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/8206d173d18ef5a077423119f4e9a93cb3a6f4eb commit
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/6b964941bbfe6e0f18b1a5e008486dbb62df440a commit
Is CVE-2026-63821 in your stack? Fencer shows which of your repositories are affected as soon as an advisory lands, and opens the fix as a pull request.
Check with FencerVendor advisories
What the vendors themselves say about their products: affected, fixed or not affected, and what to do.
red hat product security vex CVE-2026-63821 updated cvss 5.5
kernel: wifi: rtw88: usb: fix memory leaks on USB write failures
-
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 rv, perf, rtla, kernel, bpftool, libperf, +82 more Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 kernelaffected: no fix available “Fix deferred”
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Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 perf, kernel, python-perf, kernel-kdump, kernel-firmware, kernel-bootwrapper, +1 more Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 perf, kernel, bpftool, kernel-rt, python-perf, kernel-kdump, +8 more Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 perf, kernel, bpftool, kernel-rt, kernel-core, kernel-tools, +29 more Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 kernel-rt, kernel-rt-selftests-internalnot affected: vulnerable code not present
Red Hat CSAF VEX © Red Hat, Inc., from https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/; changed: reduced to product statuses and remediations. CC BY 4.0 · csaf
Exploit prediction
0.17% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 5% of all scored CVEs (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-11).
Affected products
- Linux Linux
Classification
- Technology feeds
References
- git.kernel.org /stable/c/2b2060c2075a72bc2de43ce5e1b9347d6c5e27bb
- git.kernel.org /stable/c/53fed4061a09755de99c89fdc7fae5b794da455f
- git.kernel.org /stable/c/200d58c851b8f63f77a05570072dd20f79bc3681
- git.kernel.org /stable/c/8206d173d18ef5a077423119f4e9a93cb3a6f4eb
- git.kernel.org /stable/c/6b964941bbfe6e0f18b1a5e008486dbb62df440a
Sources
- CVE List CVE-2026-63821
- NVD CVE-2026-63821
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