# CVE-2026-98421: wifi: mac80211: require a peer station for TDLS setup confirm

> A missing check in the Linux kernel Wi-Fi driver allows a remote attacker to trigger a null pointer dereference and crash the system via TDLS frames.

- **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:** 14 Oct 2026
- **Updated:** 19 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** AZL-108170, BELL-CVE-2026-98421, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-98421, GHSA-6hcf-6997-pq7q, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-98421

## What is CVE-2026-98421?

CVE-2026-98421 is a vulnerability in Linux, published on 14 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: require a peer station for TDLS setup confirm

It's nonsense for the setup confirm to go to station that
doesn't even exist, and it hits a warning when building
the frame:

  WARN_ON_ONCE(!sta || !ap_sta)

Only accept WLAN_TDLS_SETUP_CONFIRM when the station is
already there as a TDLS station. Need to copy the call
to ieee80211_tdls_prep_mgmt_packet() since the existing
WLAN_TDLS_DISCOVERY_REQUEST already falls through to it.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-98421?


## How do I fix CVE-2026-98421?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-98421 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-98421 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-98421 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-98421 is a vulnerability in Linux, published on 14 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-2026-98421 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-2026-98421/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-98421/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-98421
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-98421
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-98421

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-98421/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.