# CVE-2026-98330: wifi: cfg80211: get the wiphy out of a dying network namespace

> A null pointer dereference in the Linux kernel WiFi subsystem allows local attackers to cause a system crash when network namespaces are destroyed.

- **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:** 6 Oct 2026
- **Updated:** 19 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** AZL-106068, BELL-CVE-2026-98330, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-98330, GHSA-hpc6-p9x9-m2fc, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-98330

## What is CVE-2026-98330?

CVE-2026-98330 is a high-severity 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: cfg80211: get the wiphy out of a dying network namespace

When a network namespace is destroyed, cfg80211_pernet_exit() moves any
wiphy back to the initial namespace, and just warns if that fails. But
moving an interface can fail (due to allocation failures), and then the
wiphy is left behind with a garbage netns pointer:

  Kernel mode fault at addr 0x30
  genlmsg_multicast_netns.constprop.0+0x46/0xcf [cfg80211]
  nl80211_notify_wiphy+0xcd/0xe8 [cfg80211]
  wiphy_unregister+0x169/0x3fc [cfg80211]

Note that commit debac3a20dec ("net: Remove conflicting altnames for
dying netns in __dev_change_net_namespace().") fixed another path
that could reach it without allocation failures.

Remove interfaces that cannot be moved instead of failing the switch,
so that the wiphy always ends up in the initial namespace. In this
case the netdev core will unregister the interfaces anyway.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-98330?


## How do I fix CVE-2026-98330?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-98330 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-98330 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-98330 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-98330 is a high-severity 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-2026-98330 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-2026-98330/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-98330/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-98330
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-98330
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-98330

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-98330/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.