During the initialization of an Access Point, the mac80211 stack sets beacon parameters such as enable_beacon and beacon_int. If the AP start later fails, these parameters are not reset, leaving the device in an inconsistent state. When a scan or off‑channel operation later attempts to restore beaconing, the stale values cause a divide‑by‑zero error in the kernel, producing an oops and a system crash. The crash interrupts network services and may force an immediate reboot.

Any Linux kernel that includes the mac80211 driver and has not incorporated the upstream state‑reset fix is vulnerable. This includes all distributions that ship an older kernel version prior to the patch, regardless of vendor. The specific version range is not listed, so administrators should verify the kernel release and apply the latest stable update that contains the fix, or manually apply the upstream patch if their distribution lags.

The vulnerability leads to a local kernel crash, producing a denial‑of‑service of the entire system. The CVSS score is 5.5. The EPSS score is less than 1 %, indicating a low probability of active exploitation; no public exploit is known and the issue is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog. The attack requires local control over the Wi‑Fi interface, a scenario that is inferred from the need to trigger the AP start path. Thus, the risk is moderate to high for systems that allow local root or privileged users to manipulate wireless parameters, but the threat is limited for isolated or properly locked down environments.