# CVE-2026-98182: wifi: mac80211: refuse to make a monitor active when it has no queue

> A local attacker with CAP_NET_ADMIN can cause a kernel crash by activating a monitor interface without a queue, leading to a null pointer dereference.

- **Severity:** Not scored
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** An administrator
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 6 Oct 2026
- **Updated:** 19 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** AZL-106326, BELL-CVE-2026-98182, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-98182, GHSA-29gw-9f65-5xh9, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-98182

## What is CVE-2026-98182?

CVE-2026-98182 is a vulnerability in Linux, published on 6 Oct 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: mac80211: refuse to make a monitor active when it has no queue

A monitor interface only gets a TXQ if it's created active, and one can't
be added later. Setting the flag on a down interface is still allowed, so
the driver is handed a monitor with no queue. ath9k dereferences it:

  BUG: kernel NULL pointer dereference, address: 0000000000000066
  RIP: 0010:ath_tx_node_init+0x49/0x170 [ath9k]
   ath9k_add_interface+0x10c/0x140 [ath9k]
   drv_add_interface+0x54/0x250 [mac80211]
   ieee80211_do_open+0x32f/0x800 [mac80211]

Reached with CAP_NET_ADMIN by "iw dev X set monitor active" followed by
"ip link set X up". RTNL is held, so netlink operations block behind it.

Refuse the flag when there is no queue to give.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-98182?


## How do I fix CVE-2026-98182?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-98182 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-98182 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-98182 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-98182 is a vulnerability in Linux, published on 6 Oct 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-2026-98182 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-2026-98182/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-98182/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-98182
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-98182
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-98182

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-98182/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.