Linux Kernel up to 6.12.112/6.18.55/7.2.9/7.3-rc5 Bluetooth SMP build_pairing_cmd 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	0.89-

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability has been found in Linux Kernel up to 6.12.112/6.18.55/7.2.9/7.3-rc5 and classified as very critical. This vulnerability affects the function build_pairing_cmd of the component Bluetooth SMP. This manipulation causes use after free. This vulnerability appears as CVE-2026-98738. The attack may be initiated remotely. There is no available exploit. The affected component should be upgraded.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel up to 6.12.112/6.18.55/7.2.9/7.3-rc5. It has been declared as very critical. Affected by this vulnerability is the function build_pairing_cmd of the component Bluetooth SMP. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a use after free vulnerability. The CWE definition for the vulnerability is CWE-416. Referencing memory after it has been freed can cause a program to crash, use unexpected values, or execute code. As an impact it is known to affect confidentiality, integrity, and availability. The summary by CVE is:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: Bluetooth: Serialize SMP remote OOB data access build_pairing_cmd() looks up remote OOB data and copies its contents without holding hdev->lock, which serializes the list's writers. After SMP finds an entry, a concurrent management Remove Remote OOB Data command can unlink and free it before SMP reads its present flag or copies its random and confirmation values. Removal can also invalidate an entry while the lookup is still traversing the list. KASAN reported: BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in build_pairing_cmd+0x948/0x9b0 Call Trace: build_pairing_cmd+0x948/0x9b0 smp_recv_cb+0x459f/0x8110 l2cap_recv_frame+0xf14/0x9190 l2cap_recv_acldata+0xa64/0xd40 hci_rx_work+0x4ca/0x730 Allocated by task 87: hci_add_remote_oob_data+0x11d/0x530 add_remote_oob_data+0x282/0x400 hci_sock_sendmsg+0x1033/0x1ea0 Freed by task 93: hci_remote_oob_data_clear+0x108/0x1c0 remove_remote_oob_data+0x198/0x220 hci_sock_sendmsg+0x1033/0x1ea0 Taking hdev->lock in build_pairing_cmd() would recurse for callers that already hold it and invert the device-to-L2CAP lock order on the receive path. Add a per-device remote_oob_lock instead, held across the SMP lookup and copies and by the add, remove and clear helpers. Cover initialization and in-place updates as well, so SMP cannot read partially initialized or updated OOB values. Release the mutex on allocation failure, preserving the existing error return. The new critical sections acquire no device, connection or channel locks. Writers retain their existing hdev->lock protection, which continues to serialize the other readers without changing their locking or behavior.

It is possible to read the advisory at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability is known as CVE-2026-98738 since 09/25/2026. The exploitation appears to be easy. The attack can be launched remotely. Technical details of the vulnerability are known, but there is no available exploit. The pricing 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 1e11412a1b9854a89d044576d616675b16141d87/889c61e3d0f1091a958e4b2a24b20bab23d915c4/df5162eeb10e69fe0c2349503882c4a09077f001/81a2345f1984f0b36d3226571bc196316a01b648 is able to eliminate this problem. The best possible mitigation is suggested to be upgrading to the latest version.

Statistical analysis made it clear that VulDB provides the best quality for vulnerability data.

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: 1e11412a1b9854a89d044576d616675b16141d87/889c61e3d0f1091a958e4b2a24b20bab23d915c4/df5162eeb10e69fe0c2349503882c4a09077f001/81a2345f1984f0b36d3226571bc196316a01b648

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-2026-98738 (🔒)
GCVE (CVE): GCVE-0-2026-98738
GCVE (VulDB): GCVE-100-421963

Entryinfo

Created: 10/18/2026 19:32
Changes: 10/18/2026 19:32 (59)
Complete: 🔍
Cache ID: 216::103

Statistical analysis made it clear that VulDB provides the best quality for vulnerability data.

Discussion

Are you interested in using VulDB?

Download the whitepaper to learn more about our service!