CVE-2026-98458: Bluetooth: ISO: release unused CIS holds after channel attach

Severity: unknown
Exploited in the wild: not listed in CISA KEV
EPSS: 0.2% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days
Public exploit or detection template: none known
Published: 2026-10-18 · updated 2026-10-19

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: Bluetooth: ISO: release unused CIS holds after channel attach hci_bind_cis() and hci_connect_cis() return one hci_conn hold for the ISO layer. A new channel association consumes that hold, which is eventually released by iso_conn_free(). There are two cases where iso_chan_add() does not create an association: it returns success when the socket is already attached to the same iso_conn, and it returns -EBUSY when another socket is attached. The hold returned for the current call is unused in both cases. This occurs when deferred setup calls iso_connect_cis() again for its existing socket, or when another socket attempts to reuse the CIS. Detect the idempotent case while the connection is locked and release the unused hold after iso_chan_add(). Also release it on -EBUSY. Do not drop it for other errors: a newly allocated iso_conn releases the transferred hold when its last temporary reference is put.

Affected products

Linux kernel: 6.6 — fixed in 7.3

How to fix

Upgrade to a fixed version: Linux kernel 7.3. Check the vendor advisory for mitigations.

References

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