---
id: "CVE-2026-98620"
kind: "vulnerability"
aliases: ["CVE-2026-98620"]
title: "Linux kernel: MediaTek Ethernet probe failure can crash the kernel"
severity: "unknown"
cvss: null
epss: null
exploited: false
status: "open"
category: "infrastructure"
products: []
ecosystems: []
tags: ["embedded", "infrastructure", "linux-kernel", "mediatek-hardware", "routers"]
not_affected_if: ["no-mediatek-ethernet", "x86-servers"]
published_at: "2026-10-18T16:17:14+00:00"
first_seen_at: "2026-10-23T21:57:16+00:00"
updated_at: "2026-10-25T05:21:15+00:00"
sources: [{"source": "nvd", "url": "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-98620", "first_seen_at": "2026-10-23T21:57:16+00:00"}]
---

# Linux kernel: MediaTek Ethernet probe failure can crash the kernel

When registering one of several MediaTek Ethernet devices fails during probe, the driver frees devices still marked as registered, which trips a kernel BUG check. The sources describe a kernel crash on a failed probe path, not code execution.

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

## How to check

- unknown

## Fix

- Update the Linux kernel to a release that includes the upstream fix for mtk_eth_soc probe error handling; the sources do not name a version.

## Timeline

- 2026-10-23T21:57:16+00:00 nvd https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-98620

## From the sources

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

net: ethernet: mtk_eth_soc: unregister net_devices in case of probe failure

If register_netdev() fails for one of the MTK_MAX_DEVS devices in
mtk_probe(), the error path jumps to err_deinit_ppe, skipping
mtk_unreg_dev(). The previously registered net_devices are then freed by
mtk_free_dev() while still in NETREG_REGISTERED state, hitting the
BUG_ON(dev->reg_state != NETREG_UNREGISTERED).

Route the register_netdev() failure to err_unreg_netdev so the net_devices
registered so far are properly unregistered before being freed.

---

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