CVE-2026-74411
HIGHCVE-2026-74411 is a high-severity (CVSS 8.8) vulnerability in Kernel. O3 Security confirms whether CVE-2026-74411 is actually reachable in your code before you act, and blocks exploitation at runtime until you patch.
wifi: rtw89: Correct data type for scan index to avoid infinite loop
Real-World Exposure
KernelReal-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects Linux packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.
Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
wifi: rtw89: Correct data type for scan index to avoid infinite loop
A kernel soft lockup was observed during Wi-Fi scanning on the 6GHz band. The CPU becomes stuck in rtw89_hw_scan_add_chan_ax for over 20 seconds, leading to a system panic.
RIP points to 0f b6 c3 (movzbl %bl, %eax), which zero-extends the low 8 bits of RBX into RAX. RBX (the counter i) has reached a huge value: 0x137466a1.
watchdog: BUG: soft lockup - CPU#2 stuck for 26s! [kworker/u16:4:6124] Workqueue: events_unbound cfg80211_wiphy_work [cfg80211] RIP: 0010:rtw89_hw_scan_add_chan_ax+0xb3/0x6e0 [rtw89_core] Code: a0 48 89 45 a8 44 89 6d 9c 44 89 75 98 eb 29 66 66 2e 0f 1f 84 00 00 00 00 00 66 66 2e 0f 1f 84 00 00 00 00 00 66 90 83 c3 01 <0f> b6 c3 41 3b 44 24 74 0f 83 0b 02 00 00 0f b6 c3 48 8d 14 80 49 RSP: 0018:ffffcb48cbaa39f8 EFLAGS: 00000202 RAX: 0000000000000005 RBX: 00000000137466a1 RCX: 0000000000000000 RDX: ffff89ffc9d851a8 RSI: 0000000000004f0d RDI: 0000000096af0130 RBP: ffffcb48cbaa3a60 R08: 0000000000000000 R09: ffff8a00b7502080 R10: ffff8a00b75ff600 R11: 0000000000000000 R12: ffff89ffc7553870 R13: ffff8a00b7ac8f19 R14: ffff8a00b75020d8 R15: ffff89ffc3d54d80 FS: 0000000000000000(0000) GS:ffff8a014f962000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000 CS: 0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033 CR2: 00007558d7f9f4c4 CR3: 0000000178040001 CR4: 00000000001706f0 Call Trace: <TASK> rtw89_hw_scan_prep_chan_list_ax+0x8a/0x400 [rtw89_core] rtw89_hw_scan_start+0x546/0x8a0 [rtw89_core] ? rtw89_fw_h2c_default_cmac_tbl+0x13c/0x1f0 [rtw89_core] rtw89_ops_hw_scan+0xae/0x120 [rtw89_core] drv_hw_scan+0xbb/0x180 [mac80211] __ieee80211_start_scan+0x2fc/0x750 [mac80211] ieee80211_request_scan+0xe/0x20 [mac80211] ieee80211_scan+0x123/0x190 [mac80211] rdev_scan+0x40/0x110 [cfg80211] cfg80211_scan_6ghz+0x5a1/0xa30 [cfg80211]
By objdump with source:
for (i = 0; i < req->n_6ghz_params; i++) {
5fbc0: 83 c3 01 add $0x1,%ebx --> i++ 5fbc3: 0f b6 c3 movzbl %bl,%eax --> get counter fbc6: 41 3b 44 24 74 cmp 0x74(%r12),%eax
- RBX: 00000000137466a1 -> %bl = a1 -> EAX = 000000a1 (161)
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐧Linux | Kernel | ≥ 6.4.0&&< 6.6.145 | 6.6.145 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for Kernel. O3's reachability analysis confirms whether the vulnerable code path is actually invoked in your application, so you act on real exposure instead of every transitive match.
Fix
Update Kernel to 6.6.145 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2026-74411 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
If you can't upgrade right away: gate or disable the affected feature, validate untrusted input at the boundary, and avoid passing attacker-controlled data into the vulnerable path. O3's runtime protection blocks exploitation in production as an interim safeguard until the upgrade lands.
How O3 protects you
O3 pinpoints whether CVE-2026-74411 is reachable in your code and exactly where to fix it, then blocks exploitation in production at runtime until the patched version is deployed.
Tailored to CVE-2026-74411. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2026-74411 in your dependencies?
O3 detects CVE-2026-74411 across Linux dependencies and uses function-level reachability to confirm whether the vulnerable code path is actually reachable — not just present. No false positives.