CVE-2026-98694

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: thunderbolt: Fix KASAN reported use-after-free when request is canceled Alan reported that when doing stress testing sometimes KASAN notices use-after-free during control channel operation (stripped down keeping the relevant parts): BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in tb_cfg_request_sync+0x240/0x250 [thunderbolt] Read of size 24 at addr ffff88811067f290 by task kworker/u40:2/1760 <TASK> tb_cfg_request_sync+0x240/0x250 [thunderbolt] tb_cfg_read_raw+0x367/0x510 [thunderbolt] tb_cfg_read+0xec/0x240 [thunderbolt] tb_port_get_link_generation+0x258/0x420 [thunderbolt] tb_usb3_consumed_bandwidth+0x1c1/0x2c0 [thunderbolt] tb_tunnel_consumed_bandwidth+0xfd/0x910 [thunderbolt] tb_available_bandwidth+0x5f2/0xeb0 [thunderbolt] tb_recalc_estimated_bandwidth+0x2a0/0x1bc0 [thunderbolt] tb_handle_dp_bandwidth_request+0x1897/0x5e20 [thunderbolt] process_one_work+0x675/0x1230 worker_thread+0x5e6/0xf70 kthread+0x365/0x470 ret_from_fork+0x54d/0x710 ret_from_fork_asm+0x1a/0x30 </TASK> Allocated by task 1760: __kmalloc_cache_noprof+0x1ee/0x550 tb_cfg_read_raw+0x1d3/0x510 [thunderbolt] tb_cfg_read+0xec/0x240 [thunderbolt] tb_port_get_link_generation+0x258/0x420 [thunderbolt] tb_usb3_consumed_bandwidth+0x1c1/0x2c0 [thunderbolt] tb_tunnel_consumed_bandwidth+0xfd/0x910 [thunderbolt] tb_available_bandwidth+0x5f2/0xeb0 [thunderbolt] tb_recalc_estimated_bandwidth+0x2a0/0x1bc0 [thunderbolt] tb_handle_dp_bandwidth_request+0x1897/0x5e20 [thunderbolt] process_one_work+0x675/0x1230 worker_thread+0x5e6/0xf70 kthread+0x365/0x470 ret_from_fork+0x54d/0x710 ret_from_fork_asm+0x1a/0x30 Freed by task 926: kfree+0x18f/0x4a0 tb_cfg_request_put+0xb7/0xe0 [thunderbolt] tb_cfg_request_work+0x82/0x120 [thunderbolt] process_one_work+0x675/0x1230 worker_thread+0x5e6/0xf70 kthread+0x365/0x470 ret_from_fork+0x54d/0x710 ret_from_fork_asm+0x1a/0x30 Second to last potentially related work creation: __queue_work+0x575/0xd00 queue_work_on+0x77/0x80 tb_cfg_request_cancel+0xc7/0x260 [thunderbolt] tb_cfg_request_sync+0x1f6/0x250 [thunderbolt] tb_cfg_read_raw+0x367/0x510 [thunderbolt] tb_cfg_read+0xec/0x240 [thunderbolt] tb_port_get_link_generation+0x258/0x420 [thunderbolt] tb_usb3_consumed_bandwidth+0x1c1/0x2c0 [thunderbolt] tb_tunnel_consumed_bandwidth+0xfd/0x910 [thunderbolt] tb_available_bandwidth+0x5f2/0xeb0 [thunderbolt] tb_recalc_estimated_bandwidth+0x2a0/0x1bc0 [thunderbolt] tb_handle_dp_bandwidth_request+0x1897/0x5e20 [thunderbolt] process_one_work+0x675/0x1230 worker_thread+0x5e6/0xf70 kthread+0x365/0x470 ret_from_fork+0x54d/0x710 ret_from_fork_asm+0x1a/0x30 The last stack trace is helpful because it shows that we are cancelling a request and looking at tb_cfg_request_cancel() what might happen is that tb_cfg_request_work() completes right before tb_cfg_request_cancel() starts and because of this it will call schedule_work() queueing the same work to run again. However, it is already removed from the request_queue and reference count is dropped so when tb_cfg_request_work() triggers again it will access memory that is already released. Fix this so that we first make sure a cancelled request is not handed away from tb_cfg_request_find() or scheduled to run. Then instead of relying on the worker to clean up the request we will do it in tb_cfg_request_cancel() after the work is canceled from running. Make tb_cfg_request_dequeue() release the request only if it was actually removed from the queue.

Package Linux Kernel
Published 2026-10-18
Last modified 2026-10-18
Patch available
Yes

Affected versions

Linux kernel versions 4.13 and later are affected. Fixed in 6.12.113, 6.18.56, 7.2.10, 7.3 and their respective stable series.

Affected from
≥ 4.13
Fixed in
✓ 6.12.113 6.12.x ✓ 6.18.56 6.18.x ✓ 7.2.10 7.2.x ✓ 7.3

Frequently asked questions

  • What is CVE-2026-98694?

    CVE-2026-98694 is a unscored severity Linux kernel vulnerability . It affects Linux kernel versions from 4.13 onward and has been patched in 6.12.113, 6.18.56, 7.2.10 and others. CVE-2026-98694 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

  • Is there a patch available for CVE-2026-98694?

    Yes. CVE-2026-98694 has been patched. Fixed versions include 6.12.113, 6.18.56, 7.2.10 and others. If you are running Linux kernel 4.13 or later up to the fix versions, apply the relevant patch for your kernel branch.

  • Is CVE-2026-98694 actively exploited?

    No. CVE-2026-98694 has not been confirmed as actively exploited. It is not listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog.