Linux Kernel up to 6.12.112/6.18.55/7.2.9/7.3-rc5 IIO Proximity Driver probe use after free

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.
9.5	$5k-$25k	0.46-

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability, which was classified as very critical, has been found in Linux Kernel up to 6.12.112/6.18.55/7.2.9/7.3-rc5. Impacted is the function probe of the component IIO Proximity Driver. The manipulation leads to use after free. This vulnerability is uniquely identified as CVE-2026-98657. The attack is possible to be carried out remotely. No exploit exists. It is advisable to upgrade the affected component.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability, which was classified as very critical, has been found in Linux Kernel up to 6.12.112/6.18.55/7.2.9/7.3-rc5. This issue affects the function probe of the component IIO Proximity Driver. 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. The summary by CVE is:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: iio: proximity: pulsedlight: fix iio_device left registered on PM setup failure pm_runtime_set_active() failing in probe() jumps to error_unreg_buffer, which only calls iio_triggered_buffer_cleanup() -- it does not undo the iio_device_register() that already succeeded a few lines above. probe() then returns the error, the devm-managed indio_dev is freed, but the iio core still has it registered: the sysfs/chardev nodes stay live and point at freed memory. Add an error_unreg_dev label that unregisters the iio device before falling through to the existing buffer cleanup, mirroring the teardown order already used in lidar_remove().

The advisory is shared at git.kernel.org. The identification of this vulnerability is CVE-2026-98657 since 09/25/2026. The exploitation is known to be easy. The attack may be initiated remotely. Technical details are known, but no exploit is available. The price for an exploit might be around USD $5k-$25k at the moment (estimation calculated on 10/18/2026).

Upgrading to version 6.12.113, 6.18.56, 7.2.10 or 7.3-rc6 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch 06fa13c53442257b94ea1519555ceddaaea57e0d/20ebd7f4e35c0a737f011bc83aeb0cdd37507648/e462b47b9637b8c0285f4a38b5af9a322847d164/4daa9ca557b4b98ae1ad38a6d1deaa3e31eb8edf is able to eliminate this problem. The best possible mitigation is suggested to be upgrading to the latest version.

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Productinfo

Type

• Operating System

Vendor

• Linux

Name

• Kernel

Version

• 6.12.112
• 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
• 6.18.54
• 6.18.55
• 7.2.0
• 7.2.1
• 7.2.2
• 7.2.3
• 7.2.4
• 7.2.5
• 7.2.6
• 7.2.7
• 7.2.8
• 7.2.9
• 7.3-rc1
• 7.3-rc2
• 7.3-rc3
• 7.3-rc4
• 7.3-rc5

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: 9.9
VulDB Meta Temp Score: 9.5

VulDB Base Score: 9.9
VulDB Temp Score: 9.5
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: 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 6.12.113/6.18.56/7.2.10/7.3-rc6
Patch: 06fa13c53442257b94ea1519555ceddaaea57e0d/20ebd7f4e35c0a737f011bc83aeb0cdd37507648/e462b47b9637b8c0285f4a38b5af9a322847d164/4daa9ca557b4b98ae1ad38a6d1deaa3e31eb8edf

Timelineinfo

09/25/2026 CVE reserved
10/18/2026 +23 days Advisory disclosed
10/18/2026 +0 days VulDB entry created
10/18/2026 +0 days VulDB entry last update

Sourcesinfo

Vendor: kernel.org

Advisory: git.kernel.org
Status: Confirmed

CVE: CVE-2026-98657 (🔒)
GCVE (CVE): GCVE-0-2026-98657
GCVE (VulDB): GCVE-100-421877

Entryinfo

Created: 10/18/2026 18:50
Changes: 10/18/2026 18:50 (59)
Complete: 🔍
Cache ID: 216::103

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