Dangling adapter pointer in Linux kernel I2C ATR driver
Key facts
- Attack vector
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- Privileges required
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- User interaction
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- Attack complexity
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- Impact type
- —
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
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- Fix status
- Fixed
No CVSS vector from any source. Fix status from CNA.
Summary
The Linux kernel from 6.6 has a dangling pointer in its I2C address translator (ATR) code. When adapter registration fails, the channel slot keeps pointing at freed memory, which can lead to a use-after-free and block reuse of that slot with -EEXIST.
Written with Claude Haiku 5.5 from the sources below · 2026-11-06
Description from the CNA
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: i2c: atr: fix dangling adapter pointer on add failure i2c_atr_add_adapter() stores atr->adapter[chan_id] before i2c_add_adapter() so that the I2C bus notifier can match child clients during registration. On failure the channel is freed but the slot was left pointing at freed memory, which can lead to use-after-free in i2c_atr_del_adapter() / cleanup and also block reuse with -EEXIST. Clear the slot on the i2c_add_adapter() error path before freeing chan.
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
Not available: CISA has not published SSVC decision points for this record.
Affected products
Remediation
Update the Linux kernel to 6.6.158, 6.12.112, 6.18.54, 7.2.8 or 7.3, depending on the release branch in use.
Written with Claude Haiku 5.5 from the sources below · 2026-11-06
- Fix · CNA Linux (Linux) Fixed in 6.6.158, 6.12.112, 6.18.54, 7.2.8, 7.3
Vendor assessments
Red Hat
Red Hat rating: Moderate. Red Hat's page for this CVE →
Not affected: 7 products
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9
- Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4
- Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 5
Timeline
- 2026-10-06 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-98218
- 2026-10-06 Alias added: GHSA-r8g8-p677-vvfc
- 2026-10-10 Affected versions changed · Red Hat
- 2026-10-10 CVSS score added · Red Hat
- 2026-10-19 Fix available: Linux/[email protected] · CNA
- 2026-11-06 Affected versions changed · Red Hat
References
Other 5
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/2f5e42edbd232bf705dc5d3a91e06344237e63bb
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/1093835f6aef58a831298d93e0d93f244fa07b84
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/eabf7a3d33cd9fad106d267d00cc842434de8e02
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/a57d9592714506556e30188af72dd3bdb9f647b5
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/ad34235808b63a70ca4989b7a2852923193d06ef
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Sources
- CVE-2026-98218 · CVE Program
- CVE-2026-98218 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-r8g8-p677-vvfc · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2026-98218 · Red Hat security data · CC BY 4.0
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