Not yet scoredPublished Oct 6, 2026

CVE-2026-98182wifi: mac80211: refuse to make a monitor active when it has no queue

Updated under an hour ago (Oct 26, 2026, 7:30 PM ET)

Does this affect you?

It affects Linux. Add what you run to find out whether that includes you.

No exploitation reported and no EPSS estimate yet.

Do this next

Start free and add your stack

Free account, 1 product

Every CVE for Linux

Exploited in the last 30 days

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: wifi: mac80211: refuse to make a monitor active when it has no queue A monitor interface only gets a TXQ if it's created active, and one can't be added later. Setting the flag on a down interface is still allowed, so the driver is handed a monitor with no queue. ath9k dereferences it: BUG: kernel NULL pointer dereference, address: 0000000000000066 RIP: 0010:ath_tx_node_init+0x49/0x170 [ath9k] ath9k_add_interface+0x10c/0x140 [ath9k] drv_add_interface+0x54/0x250 [mac80211] ieee80211_do_open+0x32f/0x800 [mac80211] Reached with CAP_NET_ADMIN by "iw dev X set monitor active" followed by "ip link set X up". RTNL is held, so netlink operations block behind it. Refuse the flag when there is no queue to give.

CVSS: Not yet scored
Weakness (CWE): Not given
Known exploited: Not in CISA's KEV catalog
EPSS (exploitation in the next 30 days): Not loaded for this CVE
Assigned by: Linux
NVD analysis: Received
Record last updated: Oct 19, 2026
First seen by InfoSec Signals: Oct 9, 2026

Affected products

Affected products

Linux Linux linux:linux (from the name)	from 79af1f866193de29e65a4dba7d0dab14b0c0ff93 before b7b7d46ec4fa127767931938b282c361c0519af6; from 79af1f866193de29e65a4dba7d0dab14b0c0ff93 before abe15e643e576459469867758ae9c586a7bab95d; 79af1f866193de29e65a4dba7d0dab14b0c0ff93 builds before 46c223468537a05a404699771cd3e68532dab5e6; 79af1f866193de29e65a4dba7d0dab14b0c0ff93 builds before 2b04d6556964ae9f89819b86a0a7801e39c3aae5	CNA record

References

References

https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/b7b7d46ec4fa127767931938b282c361c0519af6
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/abe15e643e576459469867758ae9c586a7bab95d
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/46c223468537a05a404699771cd3e68532dab5e6
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/2b04d6556964ae9f89819b86a0a7801e39c3aae5

The CVE record on cve.org NVD's entry

The CVE record is authoritative. Products marked “from the name” were identified from the CNA's free-text names, not a CPE, and are matched less certainly. This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD.