# CVE-2026-98333: wifi: mac80211: reset the LED state when ifup fails

> A use-after-free vulnerability in the Linux kernel's mac80211 subsystem allows local attackers to cause a denial of service via a timer race condition during interface failure.

- **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-106098, BELL-CVE-2026-98333, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-98333, GHSA-57gv-8xf9-89mj, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-98333

## What is CVE-2026-98333?

CVE-2026-98333 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: mac80211: reset the LED state when ifup fails

When the first interface comes up, the radio LED is turned on. This can
start the TPT trigger timer, which continues running.

But if bringing up the interface fails then the timer keeps running and
won't be stopped by anything, eventually it can be freed:

  ODEBUG: free active (active state 0) object: ffff888127e12130 object type: timer_list hint: tpt_trig_timer+0x0/0x300 net/mac80211/led.c:145
  WARNING: CPU: 0 PID: 5923 at lib/debugobjects.c:612 debug_print_object+0x1a2/0x2b0
   debug_check_no_obj_freed+0x4b7/0x600 lib/debugobjects.c:1129
   kfree+0x436/0x670 mm/slub.c:6818
   ieee80211_led_exit+0x162/0x1c0 net/mac80211/led.c:210
   ieee80211_unregister_hw+0x27e/0x3a0 net/mac80211/main.c:1706
   rt2x00lib_remove_dev+0x55b/0x670

Undo the LED state in the error path.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-98333?


## How do I fix CVE-2026-98333?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-98333 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-98333 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-98333 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-98333 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-2026-98333 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-2026-98333/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-98333/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-98333
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-98333
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-98333

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-98333/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.