VulnerabilityPublished 18 Oct 2026

CVE-2026-98698: Linux kernel · wifi: mac80211: handle empty FILS association request payload

Source GCVE Database

Authoritative record:CVE-2026-98698

Not known to be exploited · fixed in 452f1c9b76f7a122bbc4630b9691bda4809677c4 : update Linux kernel when convenient.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 14:05 UTC

Severity

Medium

Rated by Threat Radar · CVSS not yet scored by NVD

EPSS: 0.1% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 5% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
Patch: Available – fixed in 452f1c9b76f7a122bbc4630b9691bda4809677c4, 20f939b0c151d1d28e6b62a76b2454fa6fe877f2, 5bfd4b0b40b79781d900cb2f7da0685070f53c67 +2

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 18 Oct 2026
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponised: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: no evidence on record.
Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by Mirage: no evidence on record.
No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors

A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 26 Oct 2026.

Disclosed: The CVE record is public on cve.org. Its publication is t = 0.
Detectable: A public nuclei template can find exposed instances, for defenders and attackers alike.
Weaponised: Public exploit code exists in Metasploit or Exploit-DB, or CISA SSVC or the CVSS exploit maturity reports a public proof of concept.
Exploited in the wild: CISA KEV lists it, CISA SSVC rates exploitation active, or a source reports attacks.
Observed by OffSeq Mirage: OffSeq Mirage honeypot sensors recorded attack traffic for this CVE, or found exposed hosts without attack traffic.

Moments are spaced evenly, not to scale; a dashed line marks a gap of six months or more. Deltas count from t = 0. Sources that give only a date (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, or a time of exactly 00:00Z) read “same day” rather than hours. Metasploit modules carry the flaw’s disclosure date, not their release date, and nuclei templates carry no date, so both appear above but not on the timeline.

ghsa-873v-4wm2-m9cr

What to do

Upgrade to a fixed release listed under Affected software.

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
LinuxLinux	Affected ≥ 39404feee691a2dc524a629ed6eb5cfe5d8898d1, < 452f1c9b76f7a122bbc4630b9691bda4809677c4	Fixed in 452f1c9b76f7a122bbc4630b9691bda4809677c4
LinuxLinux	Affected ≥ 39404feee691a2dc524a629ed6eb5cfe5d8898d1, < 20f939b0c151d1d28e6b62a76b2454fa6fe877f2	Fixed in 20f939b0c151d1d28e6b62a76b2454fa6fe877f2
LinuxLinux	Affected ≥ 39404feee691a2dc524a629ed6eb5cfe5d8898d1, < 5bfd4b0b40b79781d900cb2f7da0685070f53c67	Fixed in 5bfd4b0b40b79781d900cb2f7da0685070f53c67
LinuxLinux	Affected ≥ 39404feee691a2dc524a629ed6eb5cfe5d8898d1, < 2f5b62f6534d336a62fdb9e88b186dd70b4323ef	Fixed in 2f5b62f6534d336a62fdb9e88b186dd70b4323ef
LinuxLinux	Affected ≥ 39404feee691a2dc524a629ed6eb5cfe5d8898d1, < 0b1e4a7eeb6a301ee33bd318982927cbdbae9f36	Fixed in 0b1e4a7eeb6a301ee33bd318982927cbdbae9f36
LinuxLinux	Affected =4.10	Fixed in–

AI-suggested

A fix has been implemented in the Linux kernel to properly handle empty FILS association request payloads in the mac80211 wifi component. Users should update to the fixed kernel version once available. No additional mitigation steps are specified.

Description

A vulnerability in the Linux kernel's mac80211 wifi component related to handling empty FILS association request payloads has been resolved. The issue occurs when fils_encrypt_assoc_req() processes a (Re)Association Request frame with an empty FILS Session element, leading to a zero-length plaintext passed to aes_siv_encrypt(). This causes an invalid page to be placed into the scatterlist, potentially triggering a kernel BUG or passing a bogus page to the crypto backend. The fix involves properly handling the empty plaintext case before the CTR encryption step.

References

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