Race condition in Linux kernel cfg80211 IBSS join handling
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
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- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
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- Fix status
- Partial Red Hat: 7 without a fix
No CVSS vector from any source. Fix status from CNA and Red Hat.
Summary
The Linux kernel from 2.6.32 is affected by a race condition in the cfg80211 IBSS join handling. When an IBSS is joined, the BSS entry is looked up later rather than kept, so a concurrent scan with the flush flag can remove it. This triggers a kernel warning in the event work.
Written with Claude Haiku 5.5 from the sources below · 2026-11-07
Description from the CNA
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: wifi: cfg80211: ibss: ref BSS entry for joined event When the IBSS is joined, we only record the BSSID/channel in the event and look up the BSS entry when processing it. However, that's racy, e.g. a new scan with NL80211_SCAN_FLAG_FLUSH can remove it, causing a warning in the event work: !bss WARNING: net/wireless/ibss.c:37 at __cfg80211_ibss_joined+0x3d3/0x440 Workqueue: cfg80211 cfg80211_event_work cfg80211_process_wdev_events+0x39f/0x5b0 net/wireless/util.c:1144 cfg80211_process_rdev_events+0xa1/0x110 net/wireless/util.c:1179 cfg80211_event_work+0x2f/0x40 net/wireless/core.c:393 Do the lookup early (the driver is expected to only join an IBSS that has a BSS entry) and keep a reference to it.
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. Red Hat rates this Low. The sources list no fixed version for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7, 8, 9, 10, OpenShift Container Platform 4 and OpenShift Container Platform 5, and Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 has no fix planned.
Written with Claude Haiku 5.5 from the sources below · 2026-11-07
- Fix · CNA Linux (Linux) Fixed in 7.2.8, 7.3
Vendor assessments
Red Hat
Red Hat rating: Low. Red Hat's page for this CVE →
| Product | Status | Plan or fix |
|---|---|---|
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 | Affected | No fix planned: Out of support scope |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 5 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
Timeline
- 2026-10-06 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-98338
- 2026-10-06 Alias added: GHSA-jgrq-7mcg-mjwv
- 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
- 2026-11-07 Affected versions changed · Red Hat
References
More Linux vulnerabilities
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- 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-2026-98338 · CVE Program
- CVE-2026-98338 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-jgrq-7mcg-mjwv · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2026-98338 · Red Hat security data · CC BY 4.0
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