{ "dataType": "CVE_RECORD", "dataVersion": "5.2", "cveMetadata": { "cveId": "CVE-2026-98311", "assignerOrgId": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67", "state": "PUBLISHED", "assignerShortName": "Linux", "dateReserved": "2026-09-25T10:25:14.339Z", "datePublished": "2026-10-06T08:46:07.562Z", "dateUpdated": "2026-10-19T09:17:21.813Z" }, "containers": { "cna": { "providerMetadata": { "orgId": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67", "shortName": "Linux", "dateUpdated": "2026-10-19T09:17:21.813Z" }, "descriptions": [ { "lang": "en", "value": "In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\nwifi: virt_wifi: don't transfer operstate before register\n\nvirt_wifi_newlink() calls netif_stacked_transfer_operstate() before\nregister_netdevice(). If the lower device is dormant, that queues the\nnew netdev on lweventlist while it is still uninitialized. If\nregistration fails after that, for example because of an invalid name\nsuch as \"bad/name\", free_netdev() immediately frees the object. A\nlater linkwatch_fire_event() then use-after-frees the list entry.\n\nMove the transfer to after netdev_upper_dev_link(), as macvlan and\nipvlan already do." } ], "metrics": [ { "cvssV3_1": { "version": "3.1", "vectorString": "CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H", "baseScore": 7.8, "baseSeverity": "HIGH" }, "scenarios": [ { "lang": "en", "value": "AV:L - The trigger is a local RTM_NEWLINK netlink request of kind \"virt_wifi\" handled by virt_wifi_newlink(). No remote peer or WiFi frame supplies any input. The bug is a fault in the order of steps when creating the device.\nAC:L - The attacker sets up the state and triggers it alone. They bring the lower device (e.g. lo) up and set it dormant via IFLA_OPERSTATE, then send RTM_NEWLINK with an invalid name like \"bad/name\". netif_dormant_on() queues the device on lweventlist, register_netdevice() fails and free_netdev() frees the device while it is still queued. No race is involved.\nPR:L - rtnetlink_rcv_msg() and __rtnl_newlink() check CAP_NET_ADMIN only against the user namespace that owns the netns, so an unprivileged user can get it with unshare -Urn. __rtnl_newlink() also auto-loads rtnl-link-virt_wifi through request_module().\nUI:N - No victim action is needed; the attacker's own netlink messages create the dormant lower device, the failing virt_wifi link and the queued linkwatch event.\nS:U - Memory in the same kernel is corrupted and stays within the kernel's own security authority. No VM, IOMMU or sandbox boundary is crossed.\nC:H - The freed net_device is still linked into the global lweventlist. linkwatch_do_dev() later reads it (flags, state, qdisc pointers), so the attacker can reclaim the freed object with controlled data and use the resulting reads to leak memory.\nI:H - A list_add or list_del on lweventlist writes through link_watch_list into freed memory. With a reclaimed object, linkwatch_do_dev() calls dev_activate() or dev_deactivate() on qdisc pointers the attacker controls, which allows corrupting memory and hijacking control flow.\nA:H - Even without careful exploitation, the queued linkwatch_event work or any later linkwatch_fire_event() corrupts list memory or touches freed memory. That causes a kernel oops or panic, and the attacker can repeat it." } ] } ], "affected": [ { "product": "Linux", "vendor": "Linux", "defaultStatus": "unaffected", "repo": "https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git", "programFiles": [ "drivers/net/wireless/virtual/virt_wifi.c" ], "versions": [ { "version": "c7cdba31ed8b87526db978976392802d3f93110c", "lessThan": "ee9ea1afd6990def51d52b3a0aecd5cfcc951da0", "status": "affected", "versionType": "git" }, { "version": "c7cdba31ed8b87526db978976392802d3f93110c", "lessThan": "9ce26201f6dedf3fa02b97da8c67ee6f6c5f7225", "status": "affected", "versionType": "git" }, { "version": "c7cdba31ed8b87526db978976392802d3f93110c", "lessThan": "f9526054c2b2cace5916b7225603d008834ec011", "status": "affected", "versionType": "git" }, { "version": "c7cdba31ed8b87526db978976392802d3f93110c", "lessThan": "e8304e25c6dabb8accf38b807969438d0ce84fd7", "status": "affected", "versionType": "git" }, { "version": "c7cdba31ed8b87526db978976392802d3f93110c", "lessThan": "ca49763c42c1089d654bf11b037980a9ede3772c", "status": "affected", "versionType": "git" }, { "version": "c7cdba31ed8b87526db978976392802d3f93110c", "lessThan": "293c56a66510bb7de073a1aba388e38abddff1fb", "status": "affected", "versionType": "git" }, { "version": "c7cdba31ed8b87526db978976392802d3f93110c", "lessThan": "b808a9af5fd21f9c68b0d024eda7535b5dce6a4e", "status": "affected", "versionType": "git" }, { "version": "c7cdba31ed8b87526db978976392802d3f93110c", "lessThan": "e5c8d7acd31b27057ea42cd405d0b3ece097bc89", "status": "affected", "versionType": "git" } ] }, { "product": "Linux", "vendor": "Linux", "defaultStatus": "affected", "repo": "https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git", "programFiles": [ "drivers/net/wireless/virtual/virt_wifi.c" ], "versions": [ { "version": "5.0", "status": "affected" }, { "version": "0", "lessThan": "5.0", "status": "unaffected", "versionType": "semver" }, { "version": "5.10.271", "lessThanOrEqual": "5.10.*", "status": "unaffected", "versionType": "semver" }, { "version": "5.15.222", "lessThanOrEqual": "5.15.*", "status": "unaffected", "versionType": "semver" }, { "version": "6.1.189", "lessThanOrEqual": "6.1.*", "status": "unaffected", "versionType": "semver" }, { "version": "6.6.158", "lessThanOrEqual": "6.6.*", "status": "unaffected", "versionType": "semver" }, { "version": "6.12.112", "lessThanOrEqual": "6.12.*", "status": "unaffected", "versionType": "semver" }, { "version": "6.18.54", "lessThanOrEqual": "6.18.*", "status": "unaffected", "versionType": "semver" }, { "version": "7.2.8", "lessThanOrEqual": "7.2.*", "status": "unaffected", "versionType": "semver" }, { "version": "7.3", "lessThanOrEqual": "*", "status": "unaffected", "versionType": "original_commit_for_fix" } ] } ], "cpeApplicability": [ { "nodes": [ { "operator": "OR", "negate": false, "cpeMatch": [ { "vulnerable": true, "criteria": "cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*", "versionStartIncluding": "5.0", "versionEndExcluding": "5.10.271" }, { "vulnerable": true, "criteria": "cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*", "versionStartIncluding": "5.0", "versionEndExcluding": "5.15.222" }, { "vulnerable": true, "criteria": "cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*", "versionStartIncluding": "5.0", "versionEndExcluding": "6.1.189" }, { "vulnerable": true, "criteria": "cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*", "versionStartIncluding": "5.0", "versionEndExcluding": "6.6.158" }, { "vulnerable": true, "criteria": "cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*", "versionStartIncluding": "5.0", "versionEndExcluding": "6.12.112" }, { "vulnerable": true, "criteria": "cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*", "versionStartIncluding": "5.0", "versionEndExcluding": "6.18.54" }, { "vulnerable": true, "criteria": "cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*", "versionStartIncluding": "5.0", "versionEndExcluding": "7.2.8" }, { "vulnerable": true, "criteria": "cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*", "versionStartIncluding": "5.0", "versionEndExcluding": "7.3" } ] } ] } ], "references": [ { "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/ee9ea1afd6990def51d52b3a0aecd5cfcc951da0" }, { "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/9ce26201f6dedf3fa02b97da8c67ee6f6c5f7225" }, { "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/f9526054c2b2cace5916b7225603d008834ec011" }, { "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/e8304e25c6dabb8accf38b807969438d0ce84fd7" }, { "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/ca49763c42c1089d654bf11b037980a9ede3772c" }, { "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/293c56a66510bb7de073a1aba388e38abddff1fb" }, { "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/b808a9af5fd21f9c68b0d024eda7535b5dce6a4e" }, { "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/e5c8d7acd31b27057ea42cd405d0b3ece097bc89" } ], "title": "wifi: virt_wifi: don't transfer operstate before register", "x_generator": { "engine": "bippy-1.2.0" } } } }