{"id":"CVE-2026-98182","state":"PUBLISHED","title":"wifi: mac80211: refuse to make a monitor active when it has no queue","description":"In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\nwifi: mac80211: refuse to make a monitor active when it has no queue\n\nA monitor interface only gets a TXQ if it's created active, and one can't\nbe added later. Setting the flag on a down interface is still allowed, so\nthe driver is handed a monitor with no queue. ath9k dereferences it:\n\n  BUG: kernel NULL pointer dereference, address: 0000000000000066\n  RIP: 0010:ath_tx_node_init+0x49/0x170 [ath9k]\n   ath9k_add_interface+0x10c/0x140 [ath9k]\n   drv_add_interface+0x54/0x250 [mac80211]\n   ieee80211_do_open+0x32f/0x800 [mac80211]\n\nReached with CAP_NET_ADMIN by \"iw dev X set monitor active\" followed by\n\"ip link set X up\". RTNL is held, so netlink operations block behind it.\n\nRefuse the flag when there is no queue to give.","publishedAt":"2026-10-06T08:44:25.219Z","updatedAt":"2026-10-19T09:15:13.449Z","severity":null,"assigner":"Linux","products":["Linux Linux"],"affected":[{"vendor":"Linux","product":"Linux","defaultStatus":"unaffected","versions":[{"version":"79af1f866193de29e65a4dba7d0dab14b0c0ff93","status":"affected","lessThan":"b7b7d46ec4fa127767931938b282c361c0519af6","versionType":"git"},{"version":"79af1f866193de29e65a4dba7d0dab14b0c0ff93","status":"affected","lessThan":"abe15e643e576459469867758ae9c586a7bab95d","versionType":"git"},{"version":"79af1f866193de29e65a4dba7d0dab14b0c0ff93","status":"affected","lessThan":"46c223468537a05a404699771cd3e68532dab5e6","versionType":"git"},{"version":"79af1f866193de29e65a4dba7d0dab14b0c0ff93","status":"affected","lessThan":"2b04d6556964ae9f89819b86a0a7801e39c3aae5","versionType":"git"}],"repo":"https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git","programFiles":["net/mac80211/cfg.c"]},{"vendor":"Linux","product":"Linux","defaultStatus":"affected","versions":[{"version":"4.15","status":"affected"},{"version":"0","status":"unaffected","lessThan":"4.15","versionType":"semver"},{"version":"6.12.112","status":"unaffected","lessThanOrEqual":"6.12.*","versionType":"semver"},{"version":"6.18.54","status":"unaffected","lessThanOrEqual":"6.18.*","versionType":"semver"},{"version":"7.2.8","status":"unaffected","lessThanOrEqual":"7.2.*","versionType":"semver"},{"version":"7.3","status":"unaffected","lessThanOrEqual":"*","versionType":"original_commit_for_fix"}],"repo":"https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git","programFiles":["net/mac80211/cfg.c"]}],"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"],"weaknesses":[],"ingestedAt":"2026-10-29T20:13:43.249Z","source":{"repository":"CVEProject/cvelistV5","path":"cves/2026/98xxx/CVE-2026-98182.json","commit":"556c9d3a8cd17e218bb8e452ba7cd619a384ff47"},"raw":{"dataType":"CVE_RECORD","dataVersion":"5.2","cveMetadata":{"cveId":"CVE-2026-98182","state":"PUBLISHED","datePublished":"2026-10-06T08:44:25.219Z","dateUpdated":"2026-10-19T09:15:13.449Z","assignerShortName":"Linux","assignerOrgId":"416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67","dateReserved":"2026-09-25T10:25:14.323Z"},"containers":{"cna":{"title":"wifi: mac80211: refuse to make a monitor active when it has no queue","descriptions":[{"lang":"en","value":"In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\nwifi: mac80211: refuse to make a monitor active when it has no queue\n\nA monitor interface only gets a TXQ if it's created active, and one can't\nbe added later. Setting the flag on a down interface is still allowed, so\nthe driver is handed a monitor with no queue. ath9k dereferences it:\n\n  BUG: kernel NULL pointer dereference, address: 0000000000000066\n  RIP: 0010:ath_tx_node_init+0x49/0x170 [ath9k]\n   ath9k_add_interface+0x10c/0x140 [ath9k]\n   drv_add_interface+0x54/0x250 [mac80211]\n   ieee80211_do_open+0x32f/0x800 [mac80211]\n\nReached with CAP_NET_ADMIN by \"iw dev X set monitor active\" followed by\n\"ip link set X up\". RTNL is held, so netlink operations block behind it.\n\nRefuse the flag when there is no queue to give."}],"affected":[{"vendor":"Linux","product":"Linux","defaultStatus":"unaffected","versions":[{"version":"79af1f866193de29e65a4dba7d0dab14b0c0ff93","status":"affected","lessThan":"b7b7d46ec4fa127767931938b282c361c0519af6","versionType":"git"},{"version":"79af1f866193de29e65a4dba7d0dab14b0c0ff93","status":"affected","lessThan":"abe15e643e576459469867758ae9c586a7bab95d","versionType":"git"},{"version":"79af1f866193de29e65a4dba7d0dab14b0c0ff93","status":"affected","lessThan":"46c223468537a05a404699771cd3e68532dab5e6","versionType":"git"},{"version":"79af1f866193de29e65a4dba7d0dab14b0c0ff93","status":"affected","lessThan":"2b04d6556964ae9f89819b86a0a7801e39c3aae5","versionType":"git"}],"repo":"https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git","programFiles":["net/mac80211/cfg.c"]},{"vendor":"Linux","product":"Linux","defaultStatus":"affected","versions":[{"version":"4.15","status":"affected"},{"version":"0","status":"unaffected","lessThan":"4.15","versionType":"semver"},{"version":"6.12.112","status":"unaffected","lessThanOrEqual":"6.12.*","versionType":"semver"},{"version":"6.18.54","status":"unaffected","lessThanOrEqual":"6.18.*","versionType":"semver"},{"version":"7.2.8","status":"unaffected","lessThanOrEqual":"7.2.*","versionType":"semver"},{"version":"7.3","status":"unaffected","lessThanOrEqual":"*","versionType":"original_commit_for_fix"}],"repo":"https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git","programFiles":["net/mac80211/cfg.c"]}],"references":[{"url":"https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/b7b7d46ec4fa127767931938b282c361c0519af6"},{"url":"https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/abe15e643e576459469867758ae9c586a7bab95d"},{"url":"https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/46c223468537a05a404699771cd3e68532dab5e6"},{"url":"https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/2b04d6556964ae9f89819b86a0a7801e39c3aae5"}],"providerMetadata":{"shortName":"Linux","orgId":"416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67","dateUpdated":"2026-10-19T09:15:13.449Z"},"cpeApplicability":[{"nodes":[{"operator":"OR","negate":false,"cpeMatch":[{"vulnerable":true,"criteria":"cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*","versionStartIncluding":"4.15","versionEndExcluding":"6.12.112"},{"vulnerable":true,"criteria":"cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*","versionStartIncluding":"4.15","versionEndExcluding":"6.18.54"},{"vulnerable":true,"criteria":"cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*","versionStartIncluding":"4.15","versionEndExcluding":"7.2.8"},{"vulnerable":true,"criteria":"cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*","versionStartIncluding":"4.15","versionEndExcluding":"7.3"}]}]}],"x_generator":{"engine":"bippy-1.2.0"}}}}}