Race condition in Linux mac80211 station teardown
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: 6 without a fix
No CVSS vector from any source. Fix status from CNA and Red Hat.
Summary
The Linux kernel mac80211 Wi-Fi stack does not drain the power-save delivery work before station teardown. A delivery worker that already passed the dead-station check can resume after teardown has removed the station from the driver and still run full frame delivery. The flaw affects Linux kernel from 3.14 and is fixed in the stable branches listed in the solution.
Written with Claude Haiku 5.5 from the sources below · 2026-10-30
Description from the CNA
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.
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
Not available: CISA has not published SSVC decision points for this record.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Linux | Linux | 3.14 and later | 5.10.273, 5.15.224, 6.1.191, 6.6.160, 6.12.113, 6.18.56, 7.2.10, 7.3 | Patch available | CNA |
- Linux VendorLinux Affected 3.14 and later Fixed in 5.10.273, 5.15.224, 6.1.191, 6.6.160, 6.12.113, 6.18.56, 7.2.10, 7.3 Patch available CNA
Remediation
Fixed Linux kernel versions are 5.10.273, 5.15.224, 6.1.191, 6.6.160, 6.12.113, 6.18.56, 7.2.10 and 7.3. The sources list no fixed version for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8, 9 and 10 or Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4 and 5, and no fix is planned for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.
Written with Claude Haiku 5.5 from the sources below · 2026-10-30
- Fix · CNA Linux (Linux) Fixed in 5.10.273, 5.15.224, 6.1.191, 6.6.160, 6.12.113, 6.18.56, 7.2.10, 7.3
Vendor assessments
Red Hat
Red Hat rating: Moderate. 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 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 |
Not affected: 1 product
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
Timeline
- 2026-10-18 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-98706
- 2026-10-18 Alias added: GHSA-24rr-93xv-vqrr
- 2026-10-19 Fix available: Linux/[email protected] · CNA
- 2026-10-21 Fix available: Linux/[email protected], Linux/Linux@cbff71fe689f359ebd6a3eaded035ef75226afce · CNA
- 2026-10-21 1 new reference · CNA
- 2026-10-23 Affected versions changed · Red Hat
- 2026-10-23 CVSS score added · Red Hat
- 2026-10-30 Affected versions changed · Red Hat
- 2026-10-30 Fix available: Linux/Linux@01292d4c491b9b78c23cde3c5eaa9fb8c8e241f8, Linux/Linux@086e7aebd3a9f91435cac348828a339e1070b188, Linux/[email protected] +3 · CNA
- 2026-10-30 3 new references · CNA
References
Other 8
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/01292d4c491b9b78c23cde3c5eaa9fb8c8e241f8
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/dedae75046c47d191b9ffe3771c09281a9a94fba
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/086e7aebd3a9f91435cac348828a339e1070b188
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/cbff71fe689f359ebd6a3eaded035ef75226afce
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/843d3a1e6f25027ac85f88f67b95d82c67306dee
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/772bd89304ecf057cc51ce4ce24a1a96ac9c8de3
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/097460fcdd8ab9ef6f6018b2fdc29ba0ea499298
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/67a9e80c3ca20c9044cd6ee72cd6278dd19b5023
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Sources
- CVE-2026-98706 · CVE Program
- CVE-2026-98706 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-24rr-93xv-vqrr · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2026-98706 · Red Hat security data · CC BY 4.0
This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. Sources and licences