---
id: "CVE-2026-98766"
kind: "vulnerability"
aliases: ["CVE-2026-98766"]
title: "Linux kernel: aspeed-vhub USB gadget use-after-free on device removal"
severity: "unknown"
cvss: null
epss: null
exploited: false
status: "open"
category: "runtime"
products: []
ecosystems: []
tags: ["aspeed", "linux-kernel", "runtime", "usb-gadget"]
not_affected_if: []
published_at: "2026-10-18T16:17:30+00:00"
first_seen_at: "2026-10-23T21:57:16+00:00"
updated_at: "2026-10-25T05:16:40+00:00"
sources: [{"source": "nvd", "url": "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-98766", "first_seen_at": "2026-10-23T21:57:16+00:00"}]
---

# Linux kernel: aspeed-vhub USB gadget use-after-free on device removal

The Aspeed virtual USB hub driver in the Linux kernel can run a queued wake work item after the device has been removed, freeing memory that is still in use. The sources do not state what an attacker gains beyond a memory corruption crash.

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

## Timeline

- 2026-10-23T21:57:16+00:00 nvd https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-98766

## From the sources

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

usb: gadget: aspeed-vhub: cancel wake work on device removal

wake_work is armed from the gadget .wakeup callback to resume suspended
downstream ports, and it is never cancelled in ast_vhub_remove(), so a
work item queued before or during removal can run after devm has freed
vhub and its ports, a use-after-free.

Cancelling the work alone is not sufficient: usb_gadget_wakeup() takes
no lock and the unbind path never clears wakeup_en, so a remote-wakeup
request in flight on another CPU can re-arm the work after the cancel
and before vhub is freed.

ast_vhub_del_dev() already clears d->registered under vhub->lock before
unregistering the gadget. Refuse the wakeup in ast_vhub_udc_wakeup()
once d->registered is clear: the check and the schedule_work() are then
atomic against the unbind, so a wakeup that passed before the flag was
cleared is drained by the cancel_work_sync() after the del_dev loop,
and one that arrives later returns without arming. Also move INIT_WORK()
to the top of ast_vhub_probe(), since the probe error path reuses
ast_vhub_remove() and would otherwise cancel a never-initialized work
item.

This issue was found by an in-house static analysis tool.

---

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