CVE-2026-98701 wifi: mac80211: release mesh path quota on failed additions
Attackers can exhaust mesh path quotas via failed additions, causing denial of service in Linux kernel Wi-Fi mesh networking.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- Not needed
- Attackable
- Local or same network only
- Victim action needed
- Not needed
- Fix
- Available
What is CVE-2026-98701?
CVE-2026-98701 is a denial of service 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:
wifi: mac80211: release mesh path quota on failed additions
Repeated failed or duplicate mesh path additions can exhaust MESH_MAX_MPATHS while the path table holds fewer paths, which stops new paths to reachable destinations from being created.
mesh_path_add() reserves a slot before allocating and inserting a path. If allocation fails, the function returns without releasing the slot. If the rhashtable insertion reports an error or an existing destination, the function discards its candidate but retains the reservation. No new path is installed in any of these cases.
Release the reservation whenever the candidate is not installed.
Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-98701?
How do I fix CVE-2026-98701?
Apply the vendor's patch.
Upgrade, then put limits on request size, rate and nesting depth so one client cannot exhaust the service. More about Denial of service.
Is CVE-2026-98701 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-98701 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Sources
Also known as AZL-109200, BELL-CVE-2026-98701, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-98701, GHSA-v4pc-pf34-4h9h, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-98701.