What is CVE-2026-98837?

CVE-2026-98837 is a unscored severity Linux kernel vulnerability, affecting Linux kernel versions from 6.12.86 onward and patched in 6.12.113, 6.18.56, 7.2.10 and others. CVE-2026-98837 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

What is the CVSS score for CVE-2026-98837?

CVE-2026-98837 has a CVSS score of pending NVD analysis out of 10, rated awaiting scoring severity.

Is there a patch available for CVE-2026-98837?

Yes, CVE-2026-98837 has been patched. Fixed versions include 6.12.113, 6.18.56, 7.2.10 and others. If you are running Linux kernel 6.12.86 or later up to the fix versions, apply the relevant patch for your kernel branch.

Is CVE-2026-98837 actively exploited?

CVE-2026-98837 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

CVE-2026-98837

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ALSA: caiaq: unregister the input device when probe fails setup_card() registers the input device, whose name and phys point into struct snd_usb_caiaqdev, and then goes on to snd_card_register() and snd_usb_caiaq_control_init(). If either fails, snd_probe() calls snd_card_free(), which frees the device state but leaves the input device registered: card_free() only clears the pointer, and the input device is unregistered from snd_disconnect() alone. Reading its "uevent" attribute afterwards dereferences freed memory: BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in string+0x4a9/0x4f0 Read of size 1 at addr ffff8880208f5043 by task caiaq/4967 add_uevent_var+0x183/0x3a0 input_dev_uevent+0x162/0x900 dev_uevent+0x2f1/0x870 uevent_show+0x1ca/0x3a0 ... Unregister the input device on the probe error path, as snd_disconnect() does. snd_usb_caiaq_input_disconnect() is a no-op when no input device was registered. Reproduced with a raw-gadget Audio Kontrol 1 and a temporary hack that makes snd_usb_caiaq_control_init() fail.

Package Linux Kernel

Published 2026-10-18

Last modified 2026-10-18

Patch available

Yes

Affected versions

Linux kernel versions 6.12.86, 6.18.27, 5.10.258, 5.15.209, 6.1.175, 6.6.140, 7.0.4, 7.1 and later are affected. Fixed in 6.12.113, 6.18.56, 7.2.10, 7.3 and their respective stable series.

Affected from

≥ 6.12.86 ≥ 6.18.27 ≥ 5.10.258 ≥ 5.15.209 ≥ 6.1.175 ≥ 6.6.140 ≥ 7.0.4 ≥ 7.1

Fixed in

✓ 6.12.113 6.12.x ✓ 6.18.56 6.18.x ✓ 7.2.10 7.2.x ✓ 7.3

References

4 total

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2026-98837?

CVE-2026-98837 is a unscored severity Linux kernel vulnerability . It affects Linux kernel versions from 6.12.86 onward and has been patched in 6.12.113, 6.18.56, 7.2.10 and others. CVE-2026-98837 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
Is there a patch available for CVE-2026-98837?

Yes. CVE-2026-98837 has been patched. Fixed versions include 6.12.113, 6.18.56, 7.2.10 and others. If you are running Linux kernel 6.12.86 or later up to the fix versions, apply the relevant patch for your kernel branch.
Is CVE-2026-98837 actively exploited?

No. CVE-2026-98837 has not been confirmed as actively exploited. It is not listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog.