medium CVSS 5.5

CVE-2026-98160·Kernel vulnerability

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: staging: rtl8723bs: fix mismatched free of HalData in rtw_sdio_if1_init() padapter->HalData is allocated via vzalloc(), but incorrectly freed using kfree() in the rtw_sdio_if1_init() error path. Using kfree() to release this vmalloc-backed buffer can lead to memory corruption. Use rtw_hal_data_deinit() to pair the free correctly and free HalData with vfree(). The bug was first flagged by an experimental static analysis tool we are developing for kernel memory-management bugs. Manual inspection confirms that the issue is still present in current mainline. An x86_64 allyesconfig build showed no new warnings. As we do not have suitable RTL8723BS SDIO hardware to test with, no runtime testing was able to be performed.

Severity
medium
Software
Kernel
Fixed in
7.2.6
Published
2026-09-25

Affected versions

From: 6.19

Until: 7.2.6

Fixed in: 7.2.6

How to fix this CVE

Update your Linux kernel to version 7.2.6 or later to patch a critical memory management bug in the RTL8723BS SDIO driver. The vulnerability stems from incorrect deallocation of vmalloc-allocated memory using kfree() instead of vfree(), which can cause kernel memory corruption. Apply the latest stable kernel update and reboot your system to resolve this issue.

sudo dnf update kernel kernel-devel

Defensia detects this vulnerability

How to check if you are affected

  1. Check your current kernel version: uname -r | grep -E '^(6\.(19|[2-9]|[0-9]{2})|7\.[0-2]\.[0-5])'
  2. Verify RTL8723BS SDIO driver is loaded: lsmod | grep rtl8723bs
  3. Check kernel logs for memory corruption warnings: dmesg | grep -iE '(memory|corruption|vmalloc|HalData|rtl8723bs)'
  4. Confirm patch applied: grep -r 'rtw_hal_data_deinit' /lib/modules/$(uname -r)/kernel/drivers/staging/rtl8723bs/ 2>/dev/null && echo 'Patched' || echo 'Vulnerable'

FAQ

What is CVE-2026-98160?

This vulnerability is a memory safety bug in the Linux kernel's RTL8723BS SDIO wireless driver where memory allocated via vmalloc() is incorrectly freed with kfree(), leading to potential kernel memory corruption and system instability.

Is CVE-2026-98160 being actively exploited?

No, this vulnerability is not currently being actively exploited in the wild according to CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog, and no public exploits are available.

What versions of Kernel are affected by CVE-2026-98160?

Kernel versions 6.19 through 7.2.5 are vulnerable. The fix is available in version 7.2.6 and later.

How do I check if my server is vulnerable to CVE-2026-98160?

Run 'uname -r' and verify your kernel version is at least 7.2.6, then check if the RTL8723BS driver is loaded with 'lsmod | grep rtl8723bs'. If you're on an older version and have the driver active, you are vulnerable.

Does Defensia detect CVE-2026-98160?

Yes — Defensia's CVE advisory scanner compares installed package versions against the NVD database. If the Linux kernel is installed on a monitored server, CVE-2026-98160 will appear in your dashboard with remediation steps.

Related Kernel CVEs

CVE-2026-100075CVSS 9.8In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: RDMA/srpt: Fix srpt_alloc_rw_ctxs() unwind counters When srpt_alloc_rw_ctxs() fails partway through a multi-buffer indirect descriptor, the unwind path destroys RDMA contexts but leaves stale n_rw_ctx and n_rdma values (and a dangling rw_ctxs pointer). Later sq_wr_avail accounting in srpt_queue_response() or srpt_write_pending() can then subtract the wrong number of send queue credits. Reset the counters and clear rw_ctxs after freeing the heap allocation before returning an error.
CVE-2026-64439CVSS 9.8In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: crypto: krb5 - filter out async aead implementations at alloc krb5_aead_encrypt(), krb5_aead_decrypt() in rfc3961_simplified.c and rfc8009_encrypt(), rfc8009_decrypt() in rfc8009_aes2.c set a NULL completion callback and treat any negative return from crypto_aead_{encrypt,decrypt}() as terminal, falling through to kfree_sensitive(buffer). When the encrypt_name resolves to an async AEAD instance the request returns -EINPROGRESS, the buffer is freed while the backend's worker still holds a pointer, and the worker dereferences the freed slab on completion. KASAN report under UML+SLUB with a synthetic async aead backend bound to krb5->encrypt_name: BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in t5_stub_complete+0x7d/0xc7 The helpers were written synchronously, so filter the async instances out at allocation time instead of plumbing crypto_wait_req() through every call site. Reachable via net/rxrpc/rxgk.c, fs/afs/cm_security.c and net/ceph/crypto.c on systems with an async AEAD provider bound to the krb5 enctype name.
CVE-2026-64066CVSS 9.8In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: netfs: Fix netfs_read_to_pagecache() to pause on subreq failure Fix netfs_read_to_pagecache() so that it pauses the generation of new subrequests if an already-issued subrequest fails.
CVE-2026-64383CVSS 9.8In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: smb: client: fix double-free in SMB2_flush() replay SMB2_flush() keeps its response buffer bookkeeping across replay attempts. If a replayable flush response is received and the retry then fails before cifs_send_recv() stores a replacement response, flush_exit will free the stale response pointer a second time. Reinitialize resp_buftype and rsp_iov at the top of the replay loop so cleanup only acts on response state produced by the current attempt. This fixes a double-free without changing replay handling for successful requests.
CVE-2026-64067CVSS 9.8In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: netfs: Fix missing barriers when accessing stream->subrequests locklessly The list of subrequests attached to stream->subrequests is accessed without locks by netfs_collect_read_results() and netfs_collect_write_results(), and then they access subreq->flags without taking a barrier after getting the subreq pointer from the list. Relatedly, the functions that build the list don't use any sort of write barrier when constructing the list to make sure that the NETFS_SREQ_IN_PROGRESS flag is perceived to be set first if no lock is taken. Fix this by: (1) Add a new list_add_tail_release() function that uses a release barrier to set the pointer to the new member of the list. (2) Add a new list_first_entry_or_null_acquire() function that uses an acquire barrier to read the pointer to the first member in a list (or return NULL). (3) Use list_add_tail_release() when adding a subreq to ->subrequests. (4) Use list_first_entry_or_null_acquire() when initially accessing the front of the list (when an item is removed, the pointer to the new front iterm is obtained under the same lock).

References

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