# CVE-2026-98620: net: ethernet: mtk_eth_soc: unregister net_devices in case of probe failure

> A bug in the MediaTek Ethernet driver causes a kernel crash if device registration fails, leading to 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:** 18 Oct 2026
- **Updated:** 19 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** AZL-109046, BELL-CVE-2026-98620, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-98620, GHSA-gfj4-2pq5-q7vj, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-98620

## What is CVE-2026-98620?

CVE-2026-98620 is a vulnerability in Linux, published on 18 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:

net: ethernet: mtk_eth_soc: unregister net_devices in case of probe failure

If register_netdev() fails for one of the MTK_MAX_DEVS devices in
mtk_probe(), the error path jumps to err_deinit_ppe, skipping
mtk_unreg_dev(). The previously registered net_devices are then freed by
mtk_free_dev() while still in NETREG_REGISTERED state, hitting the
BUG_ON(dev->reg_state != NETREG_UNREGISTERED).

Route the register_netdev() failure to err_unreg_netdev so the net_devices
registered so far are properly unregistered before being freed.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-98620?


## How do I fix CVE-2026-98620?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-98620 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-98620 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-98620 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-98620 is a vulnerability in Linux, published on 18 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-2026-98620 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-2026-98620/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-98620/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-98620
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-98620
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-98620

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-98620/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.