{"id":"CVE-2026-98896","kind":"vulnerability","aliases":["CVE-2026-98896"],"related":[],"title":"Linux kernel: Thunderbolt hotplug handler can use a freed domain","description":"In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\nthunderbolt: Keep the domain reference while processing hotplug\n\nWe process hotplug events in a workqueue that may run after the domain\nhas been removed by tb_domain_remove(). For example if user unloads the\ndriver while at the same time plugging  a device router we may have\nscheduled tb_handle_hotplug() to run. Avoid possible UAF in this case by\ntaking the domain reference before scheduling the hotplug handler in\ntb_queue_hotplug().","summary":"A race in the Linux kernel Thunderbolt driver lets a hotplug workqueue handler run after the domain was removed, when the driver is unloaded during a device plug event. The fix takes a domain reference before scheduling the handler, which prevents a use-after-free; the sources do not state the attacker impact.","severity":"unknown","cvss":null,"epss":null,"exploited":false,"exploited_at":null,"products":[],"ecosystems":[],"tags":["infrastructure","kernel","linux","thunderbolt"],"not_affected_if":[],"how_to_check":null,"fix":null,"status":"open","published_at":"2026-10-23T12:18:23+00:00","first_seen_at":"2026-10-23T21:57:33+00:00","triaged_at":"2026-10-25T04:59:57+00:00","updated_at":"2026-10-25T04:59:57+00:00","category":"infrastructure","confidence":0.4,"triage":{"at":"2026-10-25T04:59:57Z","model":"claude-haiku-5-5","output":{"fix":"unknown","reach":"local","title":"Linux kernel: Thunderbolt hotplug handler can use a freed domain","impact":"low","summary":"A race in the Linux kernel Thunderbolt driver lets a hotplug workqueue handler run after the domain was removed, when the driver is unloaded during a device plug event. The fix takes a domain reference before scheduling the handler, which prevents a use-after-free; the sources do not state the attacker impact.","category":"infrastructure","nicknames":[],"who_cares":["linux","kernel","thunderbolt"],"confidence":0.4,"needs_auth":"unknown","worst_case":"unknown","analyst_note":"Find the upstream kernel commit and affected stable versions from the NVD entry, and confirm whether an unprivileged user can trigger the race.","how_to_check":"unknown","needs_analyst":true,"not_affected_if":[],"who_is_affected":"unknown","user_interaction":"unknown","needs_special_setup":"unknown","severity_if_unknown":"unknown"},"cost_usd":0.00052,"input_tokens":3384,"output_tokens":364,"severity_before":"unknown"},"analyst_status":null,"analyst_note":null,"search":"'-2026':12A,15A '-98896':13A,16A 'attack':73B 'avoid':138C 'case':143C 'cve':11A,14A 'devic':47B,127C 'domain':10A,37B,54B,88C,105C,111C,147C 'driver':28B,42B,119C 'event':49B,96C 'exampl':114C 'fix':51B 'follow':80C 'free':66B 'freed':9A 'handl':134C 'handler':5A,33B,59B,153C 'hotplug':4A,31B,92C,95C,135C,152C,157C 'impact':74B 'infrastructur':17B 'keep':86C 'kernel':2A,18B,26B,78C 'let':29B 'linux':1A,19B,25B,77C 'may':101C,130C 'plug':48B,125C 'possibl':139C 'prevent':61B 'process':91C,94C 'queue':156C 'race':22B 'refer':55B,89C,148C 'remov':39B,108C,112C 'resolv':84C 'router':128C 'run':34B,102C,137C 'schedul':57B,132C,150C 'sourc':68B 'state':71B 'take':52B,145C 'tb':110C,133C,155C 'thunderbolt':3A,20B,27B,85C 'time':124C 'uaf':140C 'unload':44B,117C 'use':7A,64B 'use-after-fre':63B 'user':116C 'vulner':81C 'workqueu':32B,99C","nicknames":[],"mitigations":[],"who_affected":null,"tier":"C","verified":{},"analyst_revisit_at":null,"first_public_at":"2026-10-23T12:18:23+00:00","kev":null,"cvss_vector":null,"cvss_by":null,"poc_count":0,"sources":[{"source":"nvd","external_id":"CVE-2026-98896","url":"https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-98896","severity":null,"published_at":"2026-10-23T12:18:23+00:00","modified_at":"2026-10-23T12:18:23+00:00","first_seen_at":"2026-10-23T21:57:33+00:00","fetched_at":"2026-10-23T22:29:03+00:00","note":null}],"documents":[],"notice":"Free to read at a human pace. An API with keys and an MCP server are in preparation; early access: hello@infrastack.ai"}