---
id: "CVE-2026-98544"
kind: "vulnerability"
aliases: ["CVE-2026-98544"]
title: "Linux kernel: bna driver timer can fire after device teardown, use-after-free"
severity: "unknown"
cvss: null
epss: null
exploited: false
status: "open"
category: "runtime"
products: []
ecosystems: []
tags: ["bna", "kernel", "linux", "qlogic-brocade-nic", "runtime"]
not_affected_if: ["no-bna-hardware"]
published_at: "2026-10-18T16:17:06+00:00"
first_seen_at: "2026-10-23T21:57:15+00:00"
updated_at: "2026-10-25T05:23:37+00:00"
sources: [{"source": "nvd", "url": "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-98544", "first_seen_at": "2026-10-23T21:57:15+00:00"}]
---

# Linux kernel: bna driver timer can fire after device teardown, use-after-free

In the Linux kernel's bna network driver, an IOC timer can still run after the device structure has been freed during removal or probe failure. The callback then takes a lock in freed memory, which is a use-after-free.

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

## Timeline

- 2026-10-23T21:57:15+00:00 nvd https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-98544

## From the sources

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

bna: prevent IOC timer rearm during teardown

bna: prevent IOC timer rearm during teardown

bnad_pci_remove() and the probe disable_ioceth path call
timer_delete_sync() for ioc_timer, sem_timer and hb_timer, but not for
iocpf_timer.  bnad_iocpf_timeout() then takes bnad->bna_lock after
free_netdev() has freed the struct bnad.

Deleting iocpf_timer last does not fix this.  sem_timer and
iocpf_timer rearm each other: bnad_iocpf_sem_timeout() can arm
iocpf_timer, and bnad_iocpf_timeout() arms sem_timer from
bfa_ioc_hw_sem_get() when the semaphore is busy.
timer_delete_sync() only waits out its own callback.
bnad_ioceth_disable() can time out and leave that callback live.

Shut all four IOC timers down with timer_shutdown_sync() on both
paths, so a later mod_timer() is ignored.

This issue was identified during our ongoing static-analysis research
while reviewing kernel code.

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