CVE-2026-98000 hwmon: Fix potential UAF in pec_store
A use-after-free vulnerability in the Linux kernel's hwmon subsystem allows local attackers to potentially execute code or escalate privileges via the pec_store function.
- 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
What is CVE-2026-98000?
CVE-2026-98000 is an use after free vulnerability in Linux, published on 25 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:
hwmon: Fix potential UAF in pec_store
Sashiko reports:
In pec_store(), a guard(mutex)(&hwdev->lock) is taken. If the chip write operation returns an error other than -EOPNOTSUPP, the code jumps to the put label, which calls put_device(hdev). If this drops the final reference, the device is freed. When the function then returns, the guard cleanup function runs and attempts to unlock the freed mutex.
Use scoped_guard() instead of guard() to avoid the problem.
Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-98000?
How do I fix CVE-2026-98000?
Apply the vendor's patch.
Upgrade to the fixed version. These bugs are found with fuzzing and sanitisers and avoided by memory-safe languages. More about Use after free.
Is CVE-2026-98000 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-98000 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Sources
Also known as BELL-CVE-2026-98000, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-98000, GHSA-xqgw-9m49-8xxh, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-98000.