Double free in Linux kernel - CVE-2026-98834
Published: October 24, 2026
Vulnerability identifier: #VU157641
CSH Severity: Low
CVSS v4: 5.7 [CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:P/PR:L/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N]
CVE-ID: CVE-2026-98834
CWE-ID: CWE-415
Exploitation vector: Local access
Exploit availability:
No public exploit available
Vulnerability details
The vulnerability allows a local user to potentially cause a denial of service through a kernel crash.
The vulnerability exists due to a double free in the Linux kernel MTD core function mtd_otp_nvmem_add() when factory OTP setup fails after the user OTP NVMEM device has been registered. A local user can potentially trigger the affected error-handling or teardown path to cause a kernel crash because the device is unregistered without clearing mtd->otp_user_nvmem, allowing it to be unregistered again.
Affected software
Linux kernel
How to mitigate CVE-2026-98834
Install security update from vendor's repository.
Linux kernel - update to 7.0 rc3