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TI-2026-75821 Aliases CVE-2026-98693GHSA-4h8h-x3h6-2f57

Thunderbolt driver in Linux kernel mishandles HopID release on unbind

Priority LOW 22Published · Updated

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: 4 without a fix

No CVSS vector from any source. Fix status from CNA and Red Hat.

Summary

The Thunderbolt driver in the Linux kernel is affected from 6.14. The tb_stop() function drops tunnel references without deactivating DP tunnels, so a pending DPRX work item can outlive the router and HopIDs are released from IDAs that are already freed. Unbinding the driver while a DP tunnel waits for DPRX capabilities triggers kernel warnings such as ida_free errors.

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: thunderbolt: Hold a router reference for each allocated HopID tb_stop() drops the reference to all DP tunnels but does not deactivate them, thus nothing cancels a dprx_work still in flight (which holds its own tunnel reference) and the tunnel can outlive tb_switch_remove(). The HopID releases in tb_path_free() then operate on freed IDAs and trigger warnings like ida_free called for id=8 which is not allocated. This can be triggered by unbinding the driver while a DP tunnel is still waiting for the DPRX capabilities read to finish. On the Apple NHI unplugging the cable runs into just that reliably because the read can never finish right now and because the unplug powers down the entire USB4 complex and removes the NHI device. Take a router reference whenever an input or output HopID is allocated and drop it again after the HopID is released. This keeps the ports and their HopID IDAs alive for as long as they are used. The KUnit tests allocate routers without ever registering their devices so initialize the embedded struct device there as well and drop its initial reference when the test is finished.

Why it matters now

EPSS 0.00198 9th percentileScored 2026-11-07
Fix Partial Linux (Linux): 6.18.56, 7.2.10, 7.3Red Hat: 4 without a fix

SSVC decision points

Not available: CISA has not published SSVC decision points for this record.

Affected products

VendorProductAffected versionsFixed inStatusSource
LinuxLinux6.14 and later6.18.56, 7.2.10, 7.3Patch availableCNA
  • Linux VendorLinux Affected 6.14 and later Fixed in 6.18.56, 7.2.10, 7.3 Patch available CNA

CPE names Threatist (inferred) · 1

Inferred from how NVD named this product before; not given by a source.

CPEVersionsRoleVendor
cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*——Linux
  • cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions — — ·Linux

Remediation

Update the Linux kernel to 6.18.56, 7.2.10 or 7.3, which contain the fix. Red Hat lists Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9, Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4 and Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 5 as affected with no fix available.

Written with Claude Haiku 5.5 from the sources below · 2026-11-06

  • Fix · CNA Linux (Linux) Fixed in 6.18.56, 7.2.10, 7.3

Vendor assessments

Red Hat

Red Hat rating: Moderate. Red Hat's page for this CVE →

ProductStatusPlan or fix
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10AffectedNo fix yet: Fix deferred
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9AffectedNo fix yet: Fix deferred
Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4AffectedNo fix yet: Fix deferred
Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 5AffectedNo fix yet: Fix deferred
Not affected: 5 products
  • 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

Timeline

  1. 2026-10-18 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-98693
  2. 2026-10-18 Alias added: GHSA-4h8h-x3h6-2f57
  3. 2026-10-19 Fix available: Linux/[email protected] · CNA
  4. 2026-10-23 Affected versions changed · Red Hat
  5. 2026-10-23 CVSS score added · Red Hat
  6. 2026-10-30 Affected versions changed · Red Hat

References

  • TI-2025-26358 tls: fix handling of zero-length records on the rx_list KEVCVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.8
  • TI-2026-38352 netfilter: bridge: make ebt_snat ARP rewrite writable KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.8
  • 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
See all 21741 →

Sources