Use-after-free in Linux kernel - CVE-2026-98896

Vulnerability identifier: #VU157614

CSH Severity: Low

CVSS v4: 5.6 [CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:P/PR:H/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N]

CVE-ID: CVE-2026-98896

CWE-ID: CWE-416

Exploitation vector: Local access

Exploit availability: No public exploit available

The vulnerability allows a local privileged user to cause a denial of service through a potential kernel crash.

The vulnerability exists due to use-after-free in the Linux kernel Thunderbolt hotplug handling code when queued work executes after its associated domain has been removed. A local privileged user can trigger device-router hotplug events concurrently with driver unloading to cause the hotplug handler to access freed domain memory, potentially crashing the kernel.

Linux kernel
Ubuntu
linux-nvidia-tegra-igx (Ubuntu package)
linux-nvidia-tegra (Ubuntu package)
linux-nvidia-tegra-5.15 (Ubuntu package)
linux (Ubuntu package)
linux-aws (Ubuntu package)
linux-oracle (Ubuntu package)
linux-gcp (Ubuntu package)
linux-ibm (Ubuntu package)
linux-hwe-7.0 (Ubuntu package)

Install security update from vendor's repository.

Linux kernel - update to 7.0 rc3
linux-nvidia-tegra-igx (Ubuntu package) - update to 5.15.0-1059.59
linux-nvidia-tegra (Ubuntu package) - update to 5.15.0-1070.72
linux-nvidia-tegra-5.15 (Ubuntu package) - update to 5.15.0-1070.72~20.04.1
linux (Ubuntu package) - update to 7.0.0-42.42
linux-aws (Ubuntu package) - update to 7.0.0-1016.17
linux-oracle (Ubuntu package) - update to 7.0.0-1015.16
linux-gcp (Ubuntu package) - update to 7.0.0-1016.18
linux-ibm (Ubuntu package) - update to 7.0.0-1017.17
linux-hwe-7.0 (Ubuntu package) - update to 7.0.0-42.42~24.04.1

• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/04df2985159e381c88a923fae1bec2f8d0272412
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/06b2e894e640f6a3dbeb536a2d26d72426b26a46
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/0a87af3b1e3aa2e09d160848daf0c39e765b73de
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/138ec65b2c761f065b19d115aed2b8246fc272f5
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/1d991f749a8255ee2ecc6307e2f27354ab631827
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/b61a4ae2ec6a0d363615d01106e0a2d284133a38
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/e8656465d08ed832e120c9cca4a6d0c8ccb45698

• Use-after-free in Linux kernel thunderbolt driver
• Ubuntu update for linux, linux-aws, linux-gcp and more
• Ubuntu update for linux-nvidia-tegra, linux-nvidia-tegra-5.15, linux-nvidia-tegra-igx
• Ubuntu update for linux, linux-aws, linux-aws-5.15 and more