Stats poll walks freed ports in Linux kernel mxl862xx DSA driver
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Local
- Privileges required
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Impact type
- —
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- High · High · High
- Fix status
- Fixed
Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · CNA. Fix status from CNA.
Summary
The mxl862xx DSA driver in the Linux kernel, from version 7.1, keeps its statistics poll running after a failed setup or during shutdown. The poll then walks switch ports that the kernel has already freed, because it is not stopped on teardown. A local user with low privileges can trigger this, which can affect confidentiality, integrity and availability.
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: net: dsa: mxl862xx: disable the stats poll on teardown mxl862xx_setup() arms the stats poll before mxl862xx_setup_mdio(), and nothing stops it until dsa_register_switch() has returned an error to mxl862xx_probe(). DSA frees the dsa_port list before it returns, so a poll that fires once .setup or a later step of dsa_tree_setup() has failed walks freed ports. On shutdown the user ports stay registered, and the WORK_STOPPED flag test in mxl862xx_get_stats64() is not atomic with the cancel in mxl862xx_shutdown(), so a re-arm that read the flag before it was set queues the poll after cancel_delayed_work_sync() has returned. Arm the poll once .setup has succeeded and stop it from a .teardown op, which DSA calls on unregister and after a failed registration, in both cases before it frees the ports. Use disable_delayed_work_sync() there and in shutdown(): it drains a running poll as the cancel did and turns every later attempt to queue the work into a no-op, so the re-arm cannot bring the poll back. remove() and the probe error path only set WORK_STOPPED, which crc_err_work tests before it walks the ports.
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 7.2.8 or 7.3, which fix this flaw.
Written with Claude Haiku 5.5 from the sources below · 2026-11-06
- Fix · CNA Linux (Linux) Fixed in 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-2026-98305
- 2026-10-06 Alias added: GHSA-fp8x-jqcp-85wv
- 2026-10-07 CVSS score added · CNA
- 2026-10-11 Affected versions changed · Red Hat
- 2026-10-11 CVSS score added · Red Hat
- 2026-10-19 Fix available: Linux/[email protected] · CNA
- 2026-11-06 Affected versions changed · Red Hat
References
More Linux vulnerabilities
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- TI-2021-02452 Incorrect authorization in Ubuntu linux kernel KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.8
- TI-2013-05264 The (1) get_user and (2) put_user API functions in the Linux kernel before 3.5.5 on the… KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.8
- TI-2022-00125 Integer overflow in kernel KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.4
- TI-2013-01864 The perf_swevent_init function in kernel/events/core.c in the Linux kernel before 3.8.9… KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.4
Sources
- CVE-2026-98305 · CVE Program
- CVE-2026-98305 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-fp8x-jqcp-85wv · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2026-98305 · Red Hat security data · CC BY 4.0
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