CVE-2026-98331
Description
A flaw was found in the Linux kernel's mac80211 wireless networking subsystem. When a network namespace hosting a wireless device is destroyed, memory allocation failures during device migration can leave unregistered network interfaces in internal tracking lists. A local user can exploit this issue to trigger a kernel crash, resulting in a Denial of Service (DoS).
Statement
This vulnerability is rated as Moderate impact because triggering it requires local access along with specific failure conditions, such as memory exhaustion during network namespace destruction, to induce a kernel crash. Red Hat Enterprise Linux systems deployed as typical servers rarely utilize physical wireless hardware or the mac80211 subsystem, significantly reducing the exposure in standard installations. Furthermore, triggering the condition requires creating and moving wireless interfaces across network namespaces, limiting the risk to environments where unprivileged user namespaces or container management permissions are permitted.
Mitigation
Mitigation for this issue is either not available or the currently available options don't meet the Red Hat Product Security criteria comprising ease of use and deployment, applicability to widespread installation base or stability.
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 | 7 | N/A | 7 |
| Attack Vector | Local | N/A | Local |
| Attack Complexity | High | N/A | High |
| Privileges Required | Low | N/A | Low |
| User Interaction | None | N/A | None |
| Scope | Unchanged | N/A | Unchanged |
| Confidentiality | High | N/A | High |
| Integrity Impact | High | N/A | High |
| Availability Impact | High | N/A | High |
Vector
Red Hat: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
cve.org: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Understanding the Weakness (CWE)
Availability
Technical Impact: DoS: Crash, Exit, or Restart
While assertion is good for catching logic errors and reducing the chances of reaching more serious vulnerability conditions, an attacker can still cause a denial of service if they can trigger an assert statement, and if the scope of the assert() extends beyond the attacker's own session. For example, if a server handles multiple simultaneous connections, if an assert() occurs in one single connection that causes all other connections to be dropped, this could be a significant denial of service.
Frequently Asked Questions
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