Linux Kernel up to 7.3-rc3 hwmon w83791d_probe use after free

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7.4	$0-$5k	0.26

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability, which was classified as critical, was found in Linux Kernel up to 7.3-rc3. Impacted is the function w83791d_probe of the component hwmon. Such manipulation leads to use after free. This vulnerability is uniquely identified as CVE-2026-98197. Local access is required to approach this attack. No exploit exists. You should upgrade the affected component.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel up to 7.3-rc3 and classified as critical. Affected by this issue is the function w83791d_probe of the component hwmon. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a use after free vulnerability. Using CWE to declare the problem leads to CWE-416. Referencing memory after it has been freed can cause a program to crash, use unexpected values, or execute code. Impacted is confidentiality, integrity, and availability. CVE summarizes:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: hwmon: (w83791d) remove fan/pwm 4-5 sysfs group on remove When the fan/pwm 4-5 pins are not used as GPIO, w83791d_probe() creates the w83791d_group_fanpwm45 sysfs group on the I2C client device. The probe error path removes this group when a later initialization step fails, but the normal remove path only removes w83791d_group. As a result, the optional fan/pwm 4-5 sysfs files can remain after the driver is unbound. The callbacks associated with these files access the driver data, which is devm allocated and released after driver unbind. Leaving the sysfs files behind can therefore result in accesses to stale driver data. Remove w83791d_group_fanpwm45 during normal teardown as well. This issue was found by manual code inspection.

The advisory is available at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability is handled as CVE-2026-98197 since 09/25/2026. The exploitation is known to be easy. Local access is required to approach this attack. Additional levels of successful authentication are required for exploitation. Successful exploitation requires user interaction by the victim. Technical details are known, but there is no available exploit. The structure of the vulnerability defines a possible price range of USD $0-$5k at the moment (estimation calculated on 10/07/2026).

Upgrading to version 5.10.271, 5.15.222, 6.1.189, 6.6.158, 6.12.112, 6.18.54, 7.2.8 or 7.3-rc4 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch 081e3a78453635fb370b1712809d2af29e60b4c5/b1d419eb3bc41245c3d3d99dfe1a7b6c45989586/2ccf6c512290a288a2d4d7f076430dfb0c6ee476/f6e2ab72f32d16d71a2549c7ea062dd209f71670/2dd37d00f1f1af8e02ffa70ee573c10fd1a76864/2c381e6e0f033f2df13bd64905e7232c42f49009/583e04e88e75b8d57304015d83c38e82a9531600/0ff9c7775e51ac6d47b1bb5c46f06b1434fe58a8 is able to eliminate this problem. The best possible mitigation is suggested to be upgrading to the latest version.

The vulnerability is also documented in the vulnerability database at CERT Bund (WID-SEC-2026-3743). If you want to get best quality of vulnerability data, you may have to visit VulDB.

Affected

• Open Source Linux Kernel

Productinfo

Type

• Operating System

Vendor

• Linux

Name

• Kernel

Version

• 5.10.270
• 5.15.221
• 6.1.188
• 6.6.157
• 6.12.111
• 6.18.0
• 6.18.1
• 6.18.2
• 6.18.3
• 6.18.4
• 6.18.5
• 6.18.6
• 6.18.7
• 6.18.8
• 6.18.9
• 6.18.10
• 6.18.11
• 6.18.12
• 6.18.13
• 6.18.14
• 6.18.15
• 6.18.16
• 6.18.17
• 6.18.18
• 6.18.19
• 6.18.20
• 6.18.21
• 6.18.22
• 6.18.23
• 6.18.24
• 6.18.25
• 6.18.26
• 6.18.27
• 6.18.28
• 6.18.29
• 6.18.30
• 6.18.31
• 6.18.32
• 6.18.33
• 6.18.34
• 6.18.35
• 6.18.36
• 6.18.37
• 6.18.38
• 6.18.39
• 6.18.40
• 6.18.41
• 6.18.42
• 6.18.43
• 6.18.44
• 6.18.45
• 6.18.46
• 6.18.47
• 6.18.48
• 6.18.49
• 6.18.50
• 6.18.51
• 6.18.52
• 6.18.53
• 7.2.0
• 7.2.1
• 7.2.2
• 7.2.3
• 7.2.4
• 7.2.5
• 7.2.6
• 7.2.7
• 7.3-rc1
• 7.3-rc2
• 7.3-rc3

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.kernel.org/

CPE 2.3info

• 🔒
• 🔒
• 🔒

CPE 2.2info

• 🔒
• 🔒
• 🔒

CVSSv4info

VulDB Vector: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CVSSv3info

VulDB Meta Base Score: 7.7
VulDB Meta Temp Score: 7.4

VulDB Base Score: 7.7
VulDB Temp Score: 7.4
VulDB Vector: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CVSSv2info

AV	AC	Au	C	I	A
💳	💳	💳	💳	💳	💳
💳	💳	💳	💳	💳	💳
💳	💳	💳	💳	💳	💳

Vector	Complexity	Authentication	Confidentiality	Integrity	Availability
Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock
Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock
Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock

VulDB Base Score: 🔒
VulDB Temp Score: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

Exploitinginfo

Class: Use after free
CWE: CWE-416 / CWE-119
CAPEC: 🔒
ATT&CK: 🔒

Physical: Partially
Local: Yes
Remote: Partially

Availability: 🔒
Status: Not defined

EPSS Score: 🔒
EPSS Percentile: 🔒

Price Prediction: 🔍
Current Price Estimation: 🔒

0-Day	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock
Today	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock

Threat Intelligenceinfo

Interest: 🔍
Active Actors: 🔍
Active APT Groups: 🔍

Countermeasuresinfo

Recommended: Upgrade
Status: 🔍

0-Day Time: 🔒

Upgrade: Kernel 5.10.271/5.15.222/6.1.189/6.6.158/6.12.112/6.18.54/7.2.8/7.3-rc4
Patch: 081e3a78453635fb370b1712809d2af29e60b4c5/b1d419eb3bc41245c3d3d99dfe1a7b6c45989586/2ccf6c512290a288a2d4d7f076430dfb0c6ee476/f6e2ab72f32d16d71a2549c7ea062dd209f71670/2dd37d00f1f1af8e02ffa70ee573c10fd1a76864/2c381e6e0f033f2df13bd64905e7232c42f49009/583e04e88e75b8d57304015d83c38e82a9531600/0ff9c7775e51ac6d47b1bb5c46f06b1434fe58a8

Timelineinfo

09/25/2026 CVE reserved
10/06/2026 +11 days Advisory disclosed
10/06/2026 +0 days VulDB entry created
10/07/2026 +1 days VulDB entry last update

Sourcesinfo

Vendor: kernel.org

Advisory: git.kernel.org
Status: Confirmed

CVE: CVE-2026-98197 (🔒)
GCVE (CVE): GCVE-0-2026-98197
GCVE (VulDB): GCVE-100-414122
CERT Bund: WID-SEC-2026-3743 - Linux Kernel: Mehrere Schwachstellen

Entryinfo

Created: 10/06/2026 12:57
Updated: 10/07/2026 09:31
Changes: 10/06/2026 12:57 (59), 10/07/2026 09:31 (7)
Complete: 🔍
Cache ID: 216::103

If you want to get best quality of vulnerability data, you may have to visit VulDB.

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