# CVE-2026-93796: wifi: iwlwifi: pcie: null RX pointers after free

> A use-after-free vulnerability in the iwlwifi PCIe driver allows attackers to cause denial of service or potentially execute code via stale RX pointers.

- **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:** 24 Sep 2026
- **Updated:** 21 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** AZL-103742, BELL-CVE-2026-93796, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-93796, GHSA-fgmq-vv8f-hphc, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-93796

## What is CVE-2026-93796?

CVE-2026-93796 is a high-severity use after free vulnerability in Linux, published on 24 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: iwlwifi: pcie: null RX pointers after free

When iwl_pcie_tx_init() fails after RX init, nic init unwinds via
iwl_pcie_rx_free().

The freed RX members stayed non-NULL on the live transport object,
so later teardown or retry could touch stale RX state.
Set rx_pool, global_table, rxq, and alloc_page to NULL after free
to make repeated cleanup and retry paths safe.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-93796?


## How do I fix CVE-2026-93796?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-93796 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-93796 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-93796 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-93796 is a high-severity use after free vulnerability in Linux, published on 24 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-2026-93796 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-2026-93796/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-93796/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-93796
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-93796
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-93796

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-93796/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.