# CVE-2026-90353: wifi: mt76: mt7915: fix ext PHY use-after-free on register error path

> A use-after-free vulnerability in the Linux kernel mt7915 Wi-Fi driver allows attackers to cause denial of service or execute arbitrary code via error path handling.

- **Severity:** High 7.0 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 17 Sep 2026
- **Updated:** 19 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** AZL-101981, BELL-CVE-2026-90353, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-90353, GHSA-r94p-vpq4-r3gx, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-90353

## What is CVE-2026-90353?

CVE-2026-90353 is a high-severity use after free vulnerability in Linux, published on 17 Sep 2026. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

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

wifi: mt76: mt7915: fix ext PHY use-after-free on register error path

After mt7915_register_ext_phy() succeeded, a failure of the main PHY
mt7915_init_debugfs() or mt7915_coredump_register() unwound through
free_phy2, which called ieee80211_free_hw() on the ext PHY hw while it
was still registered with mac80211, since mt76_unregister_device() only
unregisters the main hw. Unregister the ext PHY (thermal + phy + hw)
first and skip the redundant free.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-90353?


## How do I fix CVE-2026-90353?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-90353 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-90353 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-90353 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-90353 is a high-severity use after free vulnerability in Linux, published on 17 Sep 2026. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-90353 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Linux. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-90353/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-90353/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-90353
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-90353
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-90353

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-90353/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.