CVE-2026-98707: wifi: mac80211: shut down RX BA session timer on teardown

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 2026-10-30

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: wifi: mac80211: shut down RX BA session timer on teardown Tearing down an RX BA session can leave the session timer queued on a freed tid_rx. Later timer-wheel processing and the timer callback itself then run against freed memory. An RX BAR handler can dereference tid_rx under RCU before teardown unpublishes it and stay in its read-side critical section while teardown deletes the session timer. The stale handler can then rearm the timer after timer_delete_sync() returns and before the RCU callback frees tid_rx. Use timer_shutdown_sync() so rearm attempts become ineffective once teardown starts. Keep reorder_timer unchanged: teardown marks the session removed under reorder_lock and its release path checks that state before rearming. session_timer has no equivalent guard because ieee80211_rx_h_ctrl() rearms it before taking reorder_lock.

Affected products

Linux: 2.6.36 — fixed in 7.3

How to fix

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

References

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