Linux Kernel up to 6.12.112/6.18.55/7.2.9/7.3-rc5 USB Serial Driver new_id 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.
8.6	$5k-$25k	0.00

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability classified as very critical was found in Linux Kernel up to 6.12.112/6.18.55/7.2.9/7.3-rc5. This vulnerability affects unknown code of the component USB Serial Driver. The manipulation of the argument new_id results in use after free. This vulnerability is cataloged as CVE-2026-98696. The attack may be launched remotely. There is no exploit available. Upgrading the affected component is advised.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability classified as very critical has been found in Linux Kernel up to 6.12.112/6.18.55/7.2.9/7.3-rc5. Affected is an unknown function of the component USB Serial Driver. The manipulation of the argument new_id with an unknown input leads to a use after free vulnerability. CWE is classifying the issue as CWE-416. Referencing memory after it has been freed can cause a program to crash, use unexpected values, or execute code. This is going to have an impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability. CVE summarizes:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: USB: serial: fix driver deregistration order USB serial driver modules register one driver for the USB bus and one or more drivers for the ports on the USB serial bus. When unloading a driver module, the USB driver must be deregistered before the USB serial bus drivers so that I/O is stopped before unbinding the ports to avoid use-after-free in completion handlers accessing port data. Note that the "new_id" attributes must first be removed to prevent new ids from being added and triggering a probe of the USB driver after it has been deregistered.

The advisory is available at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability is traded as CVE-2026-98696 since 09/25/2026. The exploitability is told to be easy. It is possible to launch the attack remotely. 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 $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 9b085a06a0a411b0bcdf18b61c3ebf1be1c72ffe/a1aa474768f69ea3a70da523f00f74c264cfa10e/428d479a0d31460fbf5969ab262ccd673f1fac01/646e5b28b4fdbc1b828a2398d6ced2c1dd308a46 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: 9.0
VulDB Meta Temp Score: 8.6

VulDB Base Score: 9.0
VulDB Temp Score: 8.6
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

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 6.12.113/6.18.56/7.2.10/7.3-rc6
Patch: 9b085a06a0a411b0bcdf18b61c3ebf1be1c72ffe/a1aa474768f69ea3a70da523f00f74c264cfa10e/428d479a0d31460fbf5969ab262ccd673f1fac01/646e5b28b4fdbc1b828a2398d6ced2c1dd308a46

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-2026-98696 (🔒)
GCVE (CVE): GCVE-0-2026-98696
GCVE (VulDB): GCVE-100-421974

Entryinfo

Created: 10/18/2026 19:36
Changes: 10/18/2026 19:36 (59)
Complete: 🔍
Cache ID: 216::103

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Discussion

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