CVE-2026-98341 wifi: cfg80211: don't free driver-owned scan requests
A use-after-free vulnerability in the Linux kernel WiFi subsystem allows attackers to cause denial of service or execute code when an interface goes down during a scan.
- 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
What is CVE-2026-98341?
CVE-2026-98341 is a high-severity 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: cfg80211: don't free driver-owned scan requests
When an interface goes down while a scan is running, cfg80211 completes the scan towards userspace and frees the scan request. However, the driver can be convinced that it owns the request, since the cancellation is (intended to be) asynchronous.
The WARN_ON() in the netdev notifier was meant to catch this, but it's not actually avoidable, so it triggers and we get a UAF in scan_done().
There doesn't seem to be a great way around it, so just track that the driver is still convinced it owns the request, and then just free it on completion if it was already cancelled. Also remove the warnings since they can trigger in the intended architecture.
Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-98341?
How do I fix CVE-2026-98341?
Apply the vendor's patch.
Upgrade to the fixed version. These bugs are found with fuzzing and sanitisers and avoided by memory-safe languages. More about Use after free.
Is CVE-2026-98341 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-98341 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Sources
Also known as AZL-106230, BELL-CVE-2026-98341, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-98341, GHSA-cxwv-25fr-82vv, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-98341.