Status: UPDATED | Advisory ID: CVE-2026-98073
| CVE | CVE-2026-98073 |
| CVSS Score / Version | 7.8 (High) / CVSS v3.1 |
| Updated | 2026-09-30 |
| CVSS Vector | CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H |
| CVSS Prose | attack vector is local; attack complexity is low; privileges required is low; user interaction is none; scope is unchanged; confidentiality impact is high; integrity impact is high; availability impact is high. |
| Affected products | Linux Kernel |
| Vendor | Product | Affected Versions | Patch Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Linux | Linux Kernel |
| Subsystems | OT Supporting Infrastructure |
| Sectors | All Sectors |
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
net: Remove conflicting altnames for dying netns in __dev_change_net_namespace().
syzbot reported the warning in cfg80211_pernet_exit(). [0]
The repro does the following:
1. create two device in root netns and non-root netns
2. assign the same altname for the two devices
3. remove the non-root netns
Since commit 7663d522099e ("net: check for altname conflicts
when changing netdev's netns"), cfg80211_switch_netns() and
cfg802154_switch_netns() fail if init_net has a device with the
conflicting altname.
default_device_exit_net() had the same issue and commit d09486a04f5d
("net: fix removing a namespace with conflicting altnames") fixed it.
cfg80211_pernet_exit() and cfg802154_pernet_exit() need the same fix.
Let's generalise the fix by removing conflicting altnames for dying
netns in __dev_change_net_namespace().
[0]:
cfg80211_switch_netns(rdev, &init_net)
WARNING: net/wireless/core.c:1871 at cfg80211_pernet_exit+0xd5/0x120 net/wireless/core.c:1871, CPU#1: kworker/u8:9/1160
Modules linked in:
CPU: 1 UID: 0 PID: 1160 Comm: kworker/u8:9 Not tainted syzkaller #0 PREEMPT(full)
Hardware name: Google Google Compute Engine/Google Compute Engine, BIOS Google 07/24/2026
Workqueue: netns cleanup_net
RIP: 0010:cfg80211_pernet_exit+0xd5/0x120 net/wireless/core.c:1871
Code: e8 03 42 80 3c 20 00 74 08 4c 89 f7 e8 b4 ef 0e f7 4d 8b 36 49 81 fe 20 10 4a 90 74 12 e8 03 3d 9f f6 eb 85 e8 fc 3c 9f f6 90 <0f> 0b 90 eb cc e8 f1 3c 9f f6 eb 05 e8 ea 3c 9f f6 5b 41 5c 41 5e
RSP: 0018:ffffc900057a78f0 EFLAGS: 00010293
RAX: ffffffff8b287154 RBX: ffff88807ba72780 RCX: ffff8880213e8000
RDX: 0000000000000000 RSI: 00000000ffffffef RDI: 0000000000000000
RBP: 00000000ffffffef R08: ffffffff9024cc67 R09: 0000000000000000
R10: fffff52000af4eb0 R11: fffffbfff204998d R12: dffffc0000000000
R13: ffffffff904a1080 R14: ffff888144ed0008 R15: ffff888144ed0e20
FS: 0000000000000000(0000) GS:ffff888124de6000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000
CS: 0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033
CR2: 00005642de0a8a70 CR3: 000000007a40c000 CR4: 00000000003526f0
Call Trace:
<TASK>
ops_exit_list net/core/net_namespace.c:200 [inline]
ops_undo_list+0x43d/0x8d0 net/core/net_namespace.c:253
cleanup_net+0x572/0x810 net/core/net_namespace.c:706
process_one_work kernel/workqueue.c:3387 [inline]
process_scheduled_works+0xc3d/0x1630 kernel/workqueue.c:3470
worker_thread+0xa47/0xfb0 kernel/workqueue.c:3551
kthread+0x38b/0x480 kernel/kthread.c:436
ret_from_fork+0x514/0xb70 arch/x86/kernel/process.c:158
ret_from_fork_asm+0x1a/0x30 arch/x86/entry/entry_64.S:245
</TASK> (NVD)
Monitor Linux's web page for any future patch releases.
| Source | Reference |
|---|---|
| NVD | https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-98073 |
| CVE | https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-98073 |