# CVE-2026-98697: USB: serial: fix dynamic id driver deregistration race

> A race condition in Linux kernel USB serial driver deregistration can lead to resource leaks and potential denial of service.

- **Severity:** Not scored
- **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:** 18 Oct 2026
- **Updated:** 21 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** AZL-109154, BELL-CVE-2026-98697, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-98697, GHSA-5qfj-x2wc-wcf3, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-98697

## What is CVE-2026-98697?

CVE-2026-98697 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:

USB: serial: fix dynamic id driver deregistration race

Only free the dynamic ids after having deregistered the driver and
removed the "new_id" attribute to avoid leaking any id added by a racing
write to the attribute.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-98697?


## How do I fix CVE-2026-98697?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-98697 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-98697 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-98697 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-98697 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-2026-98697 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-2026-98697/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-98697/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-98697
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-98697
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-98697

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-98697/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.