Linux Kernel up to 7.3-rc3 mac80211 net/wireless/core.h cfg80211_unregister_wdev allocation of resources

CVSS Meta Temp Score CVSS is a standardized scoring system to determine possibilities of attacks. The Temp Score considers temporal factors like disclosure, exploit and countermeasures. The unique Meta Score calculates the average score of different sources to provide a normalized scoring system.	Current Exploit Price (≈) Our analysts are monitoring exploit markets and are in contact with vulnerability brokers. The range indicates the observed or calculated exploit price to be seen on exploit markets. A good indicator to understand the monetary effort required for and the popularity of an attack.	CTI Interest Score Our Cyber Threat Intelligence team is monitoring different web sites, mailing lists, exploit markets and social media networks. The CTI Interest Score identifies the interest of attackers and the security community for this specific vulnerability in real-time. A high score indicates an elevated risk to be targeted for this vulnerability.
6.2	$0-$5k	0.77+

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel up to 7.3-rc3. It has been declared as critical. The affected element is the function cfg80211_unregister_wdev of the file net/wireless/core.h of the component mac80211. Such manipulation leads to allocation of resources. This vulnerability is documented as CVE-2026-98331. The attack can be executed remotely. There is not any exploit available. It is recommended to 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 cfg80211_unregister_wdev of the file net/wireless/core.h of the component mac80211. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a allocation of resources vulnerability. Using CWE to declare the problem leads to CWE-770. The product allocates a reusable resource or group of resources on behalf of an actor without imposing any restrictions on the size or number of resources that can be allocated, in violation of the intended security policy for that actor. Impacted is availability. CVE summarizes:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: wifi: mac80211: unlist vifs when their netdev is unregistered mac80211 only removes vifs from the local->interfaces list when an interface is removed via ieee80211_if_remove(), before it unregisters the netdev. However, it's possible for a netdev to be unregistered without going through that: When the netns that holds the wiphy is destroyed, the wiphy is supposed to move to the init_ns, but that can run into allocation failures. Then, mac80211 has an interface listed that doesn't exist, and will eventually hit BUG: failure at net/wireless/core.h:141/wiphy_to_rdev()! ... _cfg80211_unregister_wdev+0x24/0x36a [cfg80211] cfg80211_unregister_wdev+0x15/0x1d [cfg80211] ieee80211_remove_interfaces+0x1ff/0x257 [mac80211] ieee80211_unregister_hw+0x73/0x1d1 [mac80211] mac80211_hwsim_del_radio+0x114/0x166 [mac80211_hwsim] Remove the interface from the list in ->ndo_uninit if it's still around to avoid this.

The advisory is available at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability is handled as CVE-2026-98331 since 09/25/2026. The exploitation is known to be easy. The attack may be launched remotely. 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 10/06/2026). This vulnerability is assigned to T1499 by the MITRE ATT&CK project.

Upgrading to version 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 a22c02863439993095acd0c3db97fa53cd515f4f/20a56e96a6f7b4dfbd13f8732fd2673409fc7ba0/b735ad1a9aca6080192c1316cf2706e5e1318762/d45bf731ec7085d2cc2c5d179d3b3b6c743d4fb1/821bab0456dfca12acef6df702c8f2477d313227/eee2efd82867b623982ac51925b5a1812a74c50d is able to eliminate this problem. The best possible mitigation is suggested to be upgrading to the latest version.

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

Productinfo

Type

• Operating System

Vendor

• Linux

Name

• Kernel

Version

• 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: 6.5
VulDB Meta Temp Score: 6.2

VulDB Base Score: 6.5
VulDB Temp Score: 6.2
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: Allocation of resources
CWE: CWE-770 / CWE-400 / CWE-404
CAPEC: 🔒
ATT&CK: 🔒

Physical: No
Local: No
Remote: Yes

Availability: 🔒
Status: Not defined
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 6.1.189/6.6.158/6.12.112/6.18.54/7.2.8/7.3-rc4
Patch: a22c02863439993095acd0c3db97fa53cd515f4f/20a56e96a6f7b4dfbd13f8732fd2673409fc7ba0/b735ad1a9aca6080192c1316cf2706e5e1318762/d45bf731ec7085d2cc2c5d179d3b3b6c743d4fb1/821bab0456dfca12acef6df702c8f2477d313227/eee2efd82867b623982ac51925b5a1812a74c50d

Timelineinfo

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

Sourcesinfo

Vendor: kernel.org

Advisory: git.kernel.org
Status: Confirmed

CVE: CVE-2026-98331 (🔒)
GCVE (CVE): GCVE-0-2026-98331
GCVE (VulDB): GCVE-100-414266

Entryinfo

Created: 10/06/2026 14:10
Changes: 10/06/2026 14:10 (60)
Complete: 🔍
Cache ID: 216::103

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

Discussion

Are you interested in using VulDB?

Download the whitepaper to learn more about our service!