CVE-2026-98694
Description
A flaw was found in the Linux kernel's Thunderbolt driver. When a control channel request is canceled, a race condition can cause the request to be rescheduled after its memory has already been freed, resulting in a use-after-free vulnerability. A local attacker could exploit this flaw to cause a Denial of Service (DoS) via a system crash or potentially corrupt kernel memory.
Statement
This vulnerability is rated as having a Moderate impact for Red Hat Enterprise Linux because exploitation is confined to local authenticated users, requires high race timing complexity, and is limited to hardware configurations utilizing Thunderbolt or USB4 controllers. Systems without active Thunderbolt hardware or peripherals cannot trigger this condition. Successful exploitation primarily leads to a kernel crash and system denial of service, without granting direct remote code execution.
Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) Score Details
Info alert:Important note
CVSS scores for open source components depend on vendor-specific factors (e.g. version or build chain). Therefore, Red Hat's score and impact rating can be different from NVD and other vendors. Red Hat remains the authoritative CVE Naming Authority (CNA) source for its products and services (see Red Hat classifications).
The following CVSS metrics and score provided are preliminary and subject to review.
CVSS v3 Score Breakdown
| Red Hat | NVD | cve.org | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Base Score | 4.7 | N/A | N/A |
| Attack Vector | Local | N/A | N/A |
| Attack Complexity | High | N/A | N/A |
| Privileges Required | Low | N/A | N/A |
| User Interaction | None | N/A | N/A |
| Scope | Unchanged | N/A | N/A |
| Confidentiality | None | N/A | N/A |
| Integrity Impact | None | N/A | N/A |
| Availability Impact | High | N/A | N/A |
Vector
Red Hat: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
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