VulnerabilityPublished 18 Oct 2026

CVE-2026-98828: Linux kernel · wifi: ath9k: reject short WMI command responses

Affects Linux kernelSource CVE Database V5

Not known to be exploited · fixed in e0c21130c1c7791ba73b19a3a9ea767c8cd43745 : update Linux kernel when convenient.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 14:05 UTC

Severity

Medium

Rated Medium by Threat Radar's AI analysis · CVSS not yet scored by NVD

EPSS: 0.2% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 9% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
Patch: Available – fixed in e0c21130c1c7791ba73b19a3a9ea767c8cd43745, a3b0137c855a61371d9cf9993b8bcc33c9798202, 93ce8ea70451e800601bc9444aa33043de15d67b +1

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.

What to do

Upgrade Linux kernel to e0c21130c1c7791ba73b19a3a9ea767c8cd43745, a3b0137c855a61371d9cf9993b8bcc33c9798202, 93ce8ea70451e800601bc9444aa33043de15d67b or 03ef61d05aa26022327f971b790f07e6bf6e35d6.

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
LinuxLinux	Affected ≥ fb9987d0f748c983bb795a86f47522313f701a08, < e0c21130c1c7791ba73b19a3a9ea767c8cd43745	Fixed in e0c21130c1c7791ba73b19a3a9ea767c8cd43745
LinuxLinux	Affected ≥ fb9987d0f748c983bb795a86f47522313f701a08, < a3b0137c855a61371d9cf9993b8bcc33c9798202	Fixed in a3b0137c855a61371d9cf9993b8bcc33c9798202
LinuxLinux	Affected ≥ fb9987d0f748c983bb795a86f47522313f701a08, < 93ce8ea70451e800601bc9444aa33043de15d67b	Fixed in 93ce8ea70451e800601bc9444aa33043de15d67b
LinuxLinux	Affected ≥ fb9987d0f748c983bb795a86f47522313f701a08, < 03ef61d05aa26022327f971b790f07e6bf6e35d6	Fixed in 03ef61d05aa26022327f971b790f07e6bf6e35d6
LinuxLinux	Affected =2.6.35	Fixed in–
Debiandebian/linux`pkg:deb/debian/linux`Other threats	Affected =2.6.35	Fixed in–

Check your own hosts for these packages with threat-finder (opens in a new tab), our free open-source scanner.

AI-suggested

A fix is available and has been applied in the Linux kernel commits identified by hashes e0c21130c1c7791ba73b19a3a9ea767c8cd43745, a3b0137c855a61371d9cf9993b8bcc33c9798202, 93ce8ea70451e800601bc9444aa33043de15d67b, and 03ef61d05aa26022327f971b790f07e6bf6e35d6. Users and administrators should update to a Linux kernel version that includes these fixes to remediate the vulnerability.

Description

CVE-2026-98828 is a vulnerability in the Linux kernel's ath9k wireless driver where short WMI command responses are not properly handled. This flaw could cause the driver to read beyond the expected buffer size, potentially leading to memory corruption or stale data consumption. The issue has been fixed by rejecting short responses and properly handling error conditions.

Impact

This vulnerability could lead to memory corruption or improper handling of wireless device responses, which might affect the stability or security of the affected Linux kernel version. However, no known exploits in the wild have been reported.

Summary

The vulnerability in the Linux kernel's ath9k driver arises from the function ath9k_wmi_rsp_callback() which removes the validated WMI header and copies the expected number of bytes into the response buffer. If the device response is shorter than expected, the driver may read beyond the skb payload, causing potential memory safety issues. The fix involves recording an -EMSGSIZE error for short responses, completing the waiting command, and returning the stored status to prevent consumption of stale response bytes.

References

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 26 Oct 2026, 09:43 UTC

Technical details

References

Community reviews

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