# CVE-2026-98326: wifi: mac80211: mesh: release the channel if start fails

> A Linux kernel bug in mac80211 mesh networking fails to release channel contexts on start failure, causing a warning and potential denial of service.

- **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:** 19 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** AZL-106425, BELL-CVE-2026-98326, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-98326, GHSA-w5gr-5834-37pm, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-98326

## What is CVE-2026-98326?

CVE-2026-98326 is a denial of service 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: mesh: release the channel if start fails

ieee80211_join_mesh() acquires a channel context and then calls
ieee80211_start_mesh(), which can fail. In that case, the chanctx
isn't released then interface removal will attempt to unassign it
after it's removed from the driver, hitting:

  wlan0: Failed check-sdata-in-driver check, flags: 0x0
  WARNING: net/mac80211/driver-ops.c:366 at drv_unassign_vif_chanctx
   ieee80211_assign_link_chanctx
   __ieee80211_link_release_channel
   ieee80211_link_release_channel
   ieee80211_teardown_sdata
   unregister_netdevice_many_notify
   _cfg80211_unregister_wdev
   ieee80211_remove_interfaces
   ieee80211_unregister_hw
   mac80211_hwsim_del_radio
   hwsim_exit_net

Correctly release the channel on start failures.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-98326?


## How do I fix CVE-2026-98326?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-98326 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-98326 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-98326 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-98326 is a denial of service 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-2026-98326 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-2026-98326/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-98326/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-98326
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-98326
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-98326

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-98326/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.