CVE-2026-98708
Received Received - Intake

Use-After-Free in Linux Kernel WiFi Subsystem

Publication date: 2026-10-18

Last updated on: 2026-10-18

Assigner: kernel.org

Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: wifi: mac80211: keep paired old chanctx alive An in-place replacement keeps reciprocal replace_ctx pointers between the old WILL_BE_REPLACED chanctx and the new REPLACES_OTHER chanctx. However, the early free paths only consider assigned and reserved link users when deciding whether to free the old chanctx. That lets the old chanctx be freed too early while the replacement partner still points back to it, either when the last assigned link is released or when that link successfully reassigns to another existing context. Later unreserve and switch-finalization paths can then follow a stale replace_ctx pointer. Keep a paired old chanctx alive until the replacement pair has been torn down. Apply the same check to both __ieee80211_link_release_channel() and ieee80211_link_use_reserved_reassign(). If the replacement is later abandoned, ieee80211_link_unreserve_chanctx() already tears down the pairing before freeing the old chanctx once no users remain.

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Meta Information

Published
2026-10-18
Last Modified
2026-10-18
Generated
2026-10-18
AI Q&A
2026-10-18
EPSS Evaluated
N/A
NVD
CVE-2026-98708
EUVD
EUVD-2026-103962

Affected Vendors & Products

Showing 5 associated CPEs
Vendor Product Version / Range
Linux Linux 5bcae31d9cb1ebfad3ad5a3eea04c8cdc329a04f
Linux Linux 5bcae31d9cb1ebfad3ad5a3eea04c8cdc329a04f
Linux Linux 5bcae31d9cb1ebfad3ad5a3eea04c8cdc329a04f
Linux Linux 5bcae31d9cb1ebfad3ad5a3eea04c8cdc329a04f
Linux Linux 3.17

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Exploitability

CWE
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KEV
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CWE ID Description
CWE-UNKNOWN

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Executive Summary

This is a Linux kernel vulnerability in the wifi subsystem (mac80211). It involves a use-after-free issue where an old channel context (chanctx) is freed prematurely while another context still holds a pointer to it. This happens during channel context replacement when the old context is not kept alive until the replacement process completes.

Impact Analysis

This vulnerability could lead to system crashes, memory corruption, or privilege escalation if exploited. It specifically affects WiFi operations in the Linux kernel, potentially causing instability in wireless networking functions.

Mitigation Strategies

Update the Linux kernel to the latest stable version that includes the fix for CVE-2026-98708. Monitor kernel security advisories for patches and apply them promptly.

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