Live › vulnerability › CVE-2026-98823
Go to dashboardIn the Linux wireless stack (cfg80211), merging scan entries after a channel switch can give one buffer two owners, so freeing a hidden-group beacon entry leaves a pointer to freed memory that is freed again. The sources do not state the attacker's reach beyond a memory-corruption flaw in the kernel.
Summary written from the sources below. Check the originals before acting.
First seen by InfraStack 2026-10-23 21:57 UTC. All times on this page are UTC.
Systems running a Linux kernel with the cfg80211 Wi-Fi stack and a wireless interface in use are the ones to look at, most often laptops, IoT and embedded devices. Servers with no Wi-Fi hardware or with the wireless stack not loaded are unlikely to be exposed, but the sources do not confirm this.
No product ranges from the sources yet.
uname -r and compare the kernel version with the fixed release in the kernel stable advisory unknowncfg80211 module loaded: lsmod | grep cfg80211Each row is the first time that source carried this signal. The analyst’s rows are its own findings.
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
wifi: cfg80211: preserve hidden-group beacon IE ownership
A hidden-group probe-response entry borrows its beacon IEs from the group's beacon entry. cfg80211_update_assoc_bss_entry() can pass such an entry to cfg80211_update_known_bss() when merging scan entries after a channel switch.
Copying the borrowed beacon_ies into the associated entry gives the same allocation two owners. Releasing the group's beacon entry can then leave the associated entry pointing to freed IEs, which are freed again when that entry is released.
Skip beacon IE replacement when the source entry belongs to a hidden group. Preserve probe-response processing, the subsequent metadata updates, and the existing rejection path for conflicting hidden beacon updates.
This page as .md · .json · in your agent: get_signal("CVE-2026-98823")
NVD data is provided by NIST and is public domain. Posts quoted belong to their authors.