# CVE-2026-98192: wifi: wcn36xx: Fix potential use-after-free in TX ack timer teardown

> A use-after-free in the wcn36xx WiFi driver allows attackers to cause denial of service or execute code via race conditions during timer teardown.

- **Severity:** Not scored
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 6 Oct 2026
- **Updated:** 21 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** AZL-106218, BELL-CVE-2026-98192, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-98192, GHSA-hrqp-97p2-7mmr, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-98192

## What is CVE-2026-98192?

CVE-2026-98192 is an use after free 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: wcn36xx: Fix potential use-after-free in TX ack timer teardown

wcn36xx_dxe_deinit() tears down the TX ack timer with timer_delete(),
which only dequeues the timer and does not wait for a callback that is
already executing; the preceding free_irq() calls synchronize the
interrupt handlers only. The callback, wcn36xx_dxe_tx_timer(), can
therefore be running past the teardown and use the wcn freed along
with the ieee80211_hw in wcn36xx_remove(): it takes wcn->dxe_lock,
reads wcn->tx_ack_skb and passes wcn->hw to
ieee80211_tx_status_irqsafe().

Fix this by using timer_shutdown_sync(), which waits for a running
callback and also prevents the timer from being rearmed again. The
timer is set up again by wcn36xx_dxe_init() on the next start, so the
start/stop cycle is unaffected.

This issue was found by an in-house static analysis tool.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-98192?


## How do I fix CVE-2026-98192?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-98192 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-98192 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-98192 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-98192 is an use after free 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-2026-98192 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-2026-98192/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-98192/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-98192
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-98192
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-98192

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-98192/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.