CVE-2026-98705: wifi: mac80211: account proxy paths against the mesh path limit

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 2026-10-21

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: wifi: mac80211: account proxy paths against the mesh path limit Proxy-path churn can drive the interface path counter negative and let later mesh path additions exceed MESH_MAX_MPATHS. mesh_path_free_rcu() decrements the interface mpaths counter for entries from both the mesh and proxy path tables, but mpp_path_add() never reserves a slot in that counter. Removing or expiring a proxy path therefore returns a slot that was never charged. mesh_path_add() uses the same counter to enforce MESH_MAX_MPATHS, so once it falls below the number of installed paths the limit no longer holds. Reserve the shared quota before allocating a proxy path and release it on every unsuccessful addition. Mesh and proxy paths now share one 1024-entry budget, so mpp_path_add() can return -ENOSPC at that limit.

Affected products

Linux kernel: 3.2 — 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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