---
id: "CVE-2026-98495"
kind: "vulnerability"
aliases: ["CVE-2026-98495"]
title: "Linux kernel: ARP ioctl reads past a stack buffer during device lookup"
severity: "unknown"
cvss: null
epss: null
exploited: false
status: "open"
category: "infrastructure"
products: []
ecosystems: []
tags: ["infrastructure", "kernel", "linux", "networking"]
not_affected_if: []
published_at: "2026-10-18T16:17:00+00:00"
first_seen_at: "2026-10-23T21:57:15+00:00"
updated_at: "2026-10-25T05:25:37+00:00"
sources: [{"source": "nvd", "url": "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-98495", "first_seen_at": "2026-10-23T21:57:15+00:00"}]
---

# Linux kernel: ARP ioctl reads past a stack buffer during device lookup

The Linux kernel's ARP ioctl copies a user-supplied device name that may lack a NUL terminator, and the name lookup can then read past the end of a stack object when a matching alternative interface name exists. The sources describe an out-of-bounds read, not a write, and do not state a severity or the resulting impact beyond that.

_Summary, check and fix written by a model from the sources; labelled as such._

## How to check

- unknown

## Fix

- unknown

## Timeline

- 2026-10-23T21:57:15+00:00 nvd https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-98495

## From the sources

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

net: arp: terminate device name before lookup

The ARP ioctl copies a user-provided struct arpreq into a stack object. Its
arp_dev field may contain IFNAMSIZ bytes without a NUL terminator.

Such input is passed to dev_get_by_name_rcu() or __dev_get_by_name(), where
strcmp() can read past the end of the stack object when a matching
alternative interface name exists.

Terminate the field before the lookup to prevent the out-of-bounds read.

---

_Free to read at a human pace. An API with keys and an MCP server are in preparation; early access: hello@infrastack.ai_