Bug 2546523 (CVE-2026-98326)

Summary:	CVE-2026-98326 kernel: wifi: mac80211: mesh: release the channel if start fails
Product:	[Other] Security Response	Reporter:	OSIDB Bzimport <bzimport>
Component:	vulnerability	Assignee:	Product Security DevOps Team <prodsec-dev>
Status:	NEW ---	QA Contact:
Severity:	low	Docs Contact:
Priority:	low
Version:	unspecified	CC:	akhatavk, aos-team-art-private, asdas, dpaolell, jdelft, jupierce, lgarciaa, mbiarnes, ppalepu, ppostler, prdhamdh, rhel-process-autobot, sghai, sidsharm, suppawar, vlaad, watson-tool-maintainers
Target Milestone:	---	Keywords:	Security
Target Release:	---
Hardware:	All
OS:	Linux
Whiteboard:
Fixed In Version:		Doc Type:	---
Doc Text:	A flaw was found in the Linux kernel's mac80211 wireless subsystem. When an attempt to start a wireless mesh network fails, the channel context is not properly released. A local user could exploit this flaw during network interface removal, leading to driver state inconsistency and a potential Denial of Service (DoS).	Story Points:	---
Clone Of:		Environment:
Last Closed:		Type:	---
Regression:	---	Mount Type:	---
Documentation:	---	CRM:
Verified Versions:		Category:	---
oVirt Team:	---	RHEL 7.3 requirements from Atomic Host:
Cloudforms Team:	---	Target Upstream Version:
Embargoed:

Description OSIDB Bzimport 2026-10-06 09:38:42 UTC

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

wifi: mac80211: mesh: release the channel if start fails

ieee80211_join_mesh() acquires a channel context and then calls
ieee80211_start_mesh(), which can fail. In that case, the chanctx
isn't released then interface removal will attempt to unassign it
after it's removed from the driver, hitting:

  wlan0: Failed check-sdata-in-driver check, flags: 0x0
  WARNING: net/mac80211/driver-ops.c:366 at drv_unassign_vif_chanctx
   ieee80211_assign_link_chanctx
   __ieee80211_link_release_channel
   ieee80211_link_release_channel
   ieee80211_teardown_sdata
   unregister_netdevice_many_notify
   _cfg80211_unregister_wdev
   ieee80211_remove_interfaces
   ieee80211_unregister_hw
   mac80211_hwsim_del_radio
   hwsim_exit_net

Correctly release the channel on start failures.

Comment 1 gkamathe 2026-10-09 05:38:04 UTC

Upstream advisory:
https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/security/vulns.git/plain/cve/published/2026/CVE-2026-98326.mbox