# CVE-2026-98706: wifi: mac80211: drain PS delivery work during station teardown

> A race condition in Linux kernel Wi-Fi station teardown allows denial of service by triggering use-after-free or state inconsistencies during power-save frame delivery.

- **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:** 21 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** AZL-108962, BELL-CVE-2026-98706, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-98706, GHSA-24rr-93xv-vqrr, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-98706

## What is CVE-2026-98706?

CVE-2026-98706 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:

wifi: mac80211: drain PS delivery work during station teardown

Removing an AP or mesh station can notify the driver and wake TXQs after
the station has already been removed from the driver, and can update
num_sta_ps and the power-save queues after station cleanup has purged
them.

sta_deliver_ps_frames() tests sta->dead only before it starts delivery. A
worker that passes that test can be delayed while teardown sets sta->dead
and removes the station from the driver; when it resumes it still runs the
full delivery.

The existing cancel_work_sync() sits near the end of
__cleanup_single_sta(), after the final driver state transition and after
PS accounting and queue purging, so it drains the worker only once the
state it has to protect has already changed. Before commit d34ba2168a3c
("mac80211: don't delay station destruction") cleanup was deferred
through the same ordered workqueue as the delivery work, which kept the
two ordered.

Cancel the work after setting sta->dead and before moving the driver
state, and move the existing cancellation to the start of
__cleanup_single_sta(). The first drain closes the driver-lifetime window;
driver callbacks during the remaining state transitions can still queue
drv_deliver_wk through ieee80211_sta_block_awake(), so retain the second
drain at the start of __cleanup_single_sta(). That drain also covers
insertion failures, which reach cleanup without setting sta->dead.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-98706?


## How do I fix CVE-2026-98706?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-98706 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-98706 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-98706 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-98706 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-2026-98706 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-2026-98706/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-98706/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-98706
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-98706
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-98706

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-98706/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.