wifi: mac80211: keep paired old chanctx alive
An in-place replacement keeps reciprocal replace_ctx pointers between
the old WILL_BE_REPLACED chanctx and the new REPLACES_OTHER chanctx.
However, the early free paths only consider assigned and reserved link
users when deciding whether to free the old chanctx.
That lets the old chanctx be freed too early while the replacement
partner still points back to it, either when the last assigned link is
released or when that link successfully reassigns to another existing
context. Later unreserve and switch-finalization paths can then follow a
stale replace_ctx pointer.
Keep a paired old chanctx alive until the replacement pair has been torn
down. Apply the same check to both __ieee80211_link_release_channel()
and ieee80211_link_use_reserved_reassign(). If the replacement is later
abandoned, ieee80211_link_unreserve_chanctx() already tears down the
pairing before freeing the old chanctx once no users remain.
Analysis
Analysis and contextual insights are available on OpenCVE Cloud.
Default status is the baseline for the product, each version can override it (e.g. patched versions marked unaffected).
| Vendor | Product | Default status | Versions | |||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Linux | Linux | unaffected |
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| Linux | Linux | affected |
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No data.
No data.
No data available yet.
No vendor fix or workaround currently provided.
Additional remediation guidance may be available on OpenCVE Cloud.
Tracking
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Sun, 18 Oct 2026 19:45:00 +0000
| Type | Values Removed | Values Added |
|---|---|---|
| Weaknesses | CWE-416 |
Sun, 18 Oct 2026 16:00:00 +0000
| Type | Values Removed | Values Added |
|---|---|---|
| Description | In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: wifi: mac80211: keep paired old chanctx alive An in-place replacement keeps reciprocal replace_ctx pointers between the old WILL_BE_REPLACED chanctx and the new REPLACES_OTHER chanctx. However, the early free paths only consider assigned and reserved link users when deciding whether to free the old chanctx. That lets the old chanctx be freed too early while the replacement partner still points back to it, either when the last assigned link is released or when that link successfully reassigns to another existing context. Later unreserve and switch-finalization paths can then follow a stale replace_ctx pointer. Keep a paired old chanctx alive until the replacement pair has been torn down. Apply the same check to both __ieee80211_link_release_channel() and ieee80211_link_use_reserved_reassign(). If the replacement is later abandoned, ieee80211_link_unreserve_chanctx() already tears down the pairing before freeing the old chanctx once no users remain. | |
| Title | wifi: mac80211: keep paired old chanctx alive | |
| First Time appeared |
Linux
Linux linux Kernel |
|
| CPEs | cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | |
| Vendors & Products |
Linux
Linux linux Kernel |
|
| References |
|
MITRE
Status: PUBLISHED
Assigner: Linux
Published:
Updated: 2026-10-18T15:46:38.475Z
Reserved: 2026-09-25T10:25:14.365Z
Link: CVE-2026-98708
Vulnrichment
No data.
NVD
Status : Received
Published: 2026-10-18T16:17:24.337
Modified: 2026-10-18T16:17:24.337
Link: CVE-2026-98708
Redhat
No data.
OpenCVE Enrichment
Updated: 2026-10-18T19:30:14Z
-
CWE-416
Use After Free