Linux Kernel up to 6.6.159/6.12.112/6.18.56/7.2.10 amt drivers/net/amt.c amt_dev_xmit 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-$25k2.87-

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability classified as very critical was found in Linux Kernel up to 6.6.159/6.12.112/6.18.56/7.2.10. This affects the function amt_dev_xmit of the file drivers/net/amt.c of the component amt. Such manipulation leads to use after free. This vulnerability is listed as CVE-2026-98968. The attack may be performed from remote. There is no available exploit. Upgrading the affected component is advised.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel up to 6.6.159/6.12.112/6.18.56/7.2.10 and classified as very critical. Affected by this issue is the function amt_dev_xmit of the file drivers/net/amt.c of the component amt. 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: amt: send the relay's General Query directly from the receive path An skb queued in a qdisc can outlive the tunnel it references through a raw pointer in skb->cb. For example, with igmp_qrv set to 1 on the relay a tunnel lives for 135s, so a netem delay of 180s on the amt device outlives it; when the tunnel expires and is freed, the subsequent dequeue triggers a use-after-free in amt_dev_xmit(). BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in amt_dev_xmit+0x2763/0x2e20 Call Trace: amt_dev_xmit+0x2763/0x2e20 [drivers/net/amt.c:1262] dev_hard_start_xmit+0x22f/0x620 sch_direct_xmit+0x12e/0xac0 netem_dequeue+0x333/0xc50 net_tx_action+0x35c/0xa60 amt_send_igmp_gq() and amt_send_mld_gq() are only called from amt_request_handler(), inside the rcu_read_lock_bh() section of amt_rcv(). amt_request_handler() already has the tunnel the query is for: it found or created it inside that section. Queuing the query with dev_queue_xmit() only leads back into amt_dev_xmit(), which strips the Ethernet header and calls amt_send_membership_query() for that tunnel. Make that call directly from the two senders instead, the same way amt_send_advertisement() transmits from the receive path. The query never waits in a qdisc, the tunnel is only dereferenced inside the RCU section that found or created it, and nothing is stored in skb->cb, so no lookup or refcount is needed. Remove the query branch of amt_dev_xmit(), amt_skb_cb() and struct amt_skb_cb, which have no users left. Behaviour changes: - The relay's own General Queries no longer pass through the amt device's egress path: its qdisc, tc egress (clsact/tcx), the netfilter egress hook and packet taps. They are still visible as UDP on the underlay. - A query that is sent successfully is no longer counted as tx_dropped. The old query branch left through the unlock label, which counted every sent query as dropped. - A query that reaches amt_dev_xmit() on a relay from elsewhere, such as a userspace querier, is now dropped at the IGMP/MLD type switch. Before, it trusted whatever skb->cb held, and a NULL tunnel hit the WARN_ON(1).

The advisory is shared for download at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability is handled as CVE-2026-98968 since 09/25/2026. The exploitation is known to be easy. The attack may be launched remotely. No form of authentication is required for exploitation. There are known technical details, but no exploit is available. The current price for an exploit might be approx. USD $5k-$25k (estimation calculated on 10/23/2026).

Upgrading to version 6.6.160, 6.12.113, 6.18.57 or 7.2.11 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch 95114e421196250e3d9662f12df442799477d3c3/e7183b7d518ce8b3e1f7284f9881d7a87569df14/181cb48c1e9af6b402567e132f879f89d1c54131/e7ea63b4195a150604993044ab574d8240f2a399/afae89de73dd693cfa329580ba0fba63bd3f0a11 is able to eliminate this problem. The best possible mitigation is suggested to be upgrading to the latest version.

VulDB is the best source for vulnerability data and more expert information about this specific topic.

Productinfo

Type

Vendor

Name

Version

License

Website

CPE 2.3info

CPE 2.2info

CVSSv4info

VulDB Vector: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CVSSv3info

VulDB Meta Base Score: 10.0
VulDB Meta Temp Score: 9.5

VulDB Base Score: 10.0
VulDB Temp Score: 9.5
VulDB Vector: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CVSSv2info

AVACAuCIA
💳💳💳💳💳💳
💳💳💳💳💳💳
💳💳💳💳💳💳
VectorComplexityAuthenticationConfidentialityIntegrityAvailability
UnlockUnlockUnlockUnlockUnlockUnlock
UnlockUnlockUnlockUnlockUnlockUnlock
UnlockUnlockUnlockUnlockUnlockUnlock

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-DayUnlockUnlockUnlockUnlock
TodayUnlockUnlockUnlockUnlock

Threat Intelligenceinfo

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

Countermeasuresinfo

Recommended: Upgrade
Status: 🔍

0-Day Time: 🔒

Upgrade: Kernel 6.6.160/6.12.113/6.18.57/7.2.11
Patch: 95114e421196250e3d9662f12df442799477d3c3/e7183b7d518ce8b3e1f7284f9881d7a87569df14/181cb48c1e9af6b402567e132f879f89d1c54131/e7ea63b4195a150604993044ab574d8240f2a399/afae89de73dd693cfa329580ba0fba63bd3f0a11

Timelineinfo

09/25/2026 CVE reserved
10/23/2026 +28 days Advisory disclosed
10/23/2026 +0 days VulDB entry created
10/23/2026 +0 days VulDB entry last update

Sourcesinfo

Vendor: kernel.org

Advisory: git.kernel.org
Status: Confirmed

CVE: CVE-2026-98968 (🔒)
GCVE (CVE): GCVE-0-2026-98968
GCVE (VulDB): GCVE-100-425768

Entryinfo

Created: 10/23/2026 15:00
Changes: 10/23/2026 15:00 (60)
Complete: 🔍
Cache ID: 216::103

VulDB is the best source for vulnerability data and more expert information about this specific topic.

Discussion

No comments yet. Languages: en.

Please log in to comment.

Are you interested in using VulDB?

Download the whitepaper to learn more about our service!