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CVE-2026-98581
nfc: llcp: Fix list corruption / refcount desync in nfc_llcp_recv_dm()
Published 2026-10-18 (today) by the Linux kernel CNA. Subsystem net/nfc. Debian urgency: not yet assigned.
What to do, per Debian release
Debian's own status for CVE-2026-98581 in every release this site tracks, and what each one means in practice. Every status below is the one the Debian Security Team publishes for this CVE. source
| Release | Status | Version | What this means |
|---|---|---|---|
| Debian 12bookworm | fixed | 6.1.190-1 | Update the kernel and reboot. Fixed in 6.1.190-1. A running kernel keeps the old code until the machine restarts. |
| Debian 13trixie | fixed | 6.12.113-1 | Update the kernel and reboot. Fixed in 6.12.113-1. A running kernel keeps the old code until the machine restarts. |
| Debian 14forky | fixed | 7.2.9-1 | Update the kernel and reboot. Fixed in 7.2.9-1. A running kernel keeps the old code until the machine restarts. |
| Debian unstablesid | fixed | 7.2.9-1 | Update the kernel and reboot. Fixed in 7.2.9-1. A running kernel keeps the old code until the machine restarts. |
The vulnerability
What the bug is
nfc_llcp_recv_dm() handles DM(NOBOUND)/DM(REJ) for a socket that is still linked on local->connecting_sockets: it looks the socket up with nfc_llcp_connecting_sock_get(), sets sk->sk_state = LLCP_CLOSED and returns, without taking the socket lock and without unlinking the socket from the connecting_sockets list. llcp_sock_release() selects the list to unlink from by sk_state: a socket in LLCP_CONNECTING is unlinked from connecting_sockets, otherwise from the sockets list. Because recv_dm left the socket physically on connecting_sockets but in the LLCP_CLOSED state, release() takes the else branch and calls nfc_llcp_sock_unlink(&local->sockets, sk). That runs sk_del_node_init() while holding sockets.lock, i.e. it removes the socket from the connecting_sockets hlist under the wrong lock. A concurrent connect() linking another socket onto connecting_sockets under connecting_sockets.lock then mutates the same hlist unserialized, which corrupts the list and desyncs the sk_add_node()/sk_del_node_init() sock_hold()/__sock_put() pairing. An unprivileged local process holding LLCP sockets, with the DM supplied by the remote peer over an established LLCP link, can drive this to leak kernel sockets without bound (the mis-decrement goes through the non-freeing __sock_put() path, so the object is never released), leading to memory exhaustion / DoS. This is the same class of bug that was fixed in the sibling handler nfc_llcp_recv_cc() by commit b493ea2765cc ("nfc: llcp: Fix use-after-free race in nfc_llcp_recv_cc()"); recv_dm did not receive the equivalent fix. Fix it the same way: take lock_sock(), re-check that the socket is still hashed (release() may have won the race), and for the NOBOUND/REJ case unlink it from connecting_sockets before moving it to LLCP_CLOSED. The unlink drops the connecting_sockets membership reference via sk_del_node_init(), leaving the socket unhashed, so the later nfc_llcp_sock_unlink() in llcp_sock_release() becomes a no-op and no double put occurs.
Where it lives
The fix touches these files. If the subsystem is one you do not use, the practical exposure is lower, though the package is still the vulnerable one.
net/nfc/llcp_core.c
- What this is
- NFC SUBSYSTEMMAINTAINERS section matched on net/nfc/ · oe-linux-nfc@lists.linux.dev · Maintained
- Kernel module
- nfc
Check it on the machine
grep -w CONFIG_NFC /boot/config-$(uname -r)Reads the booted kernel's own configuration, on the machine and nowhere else. =y is built in, =m is a module, and an is not set line means the code is not there.
lsmod | grep -w nfcPrints a line if that module is loaded right now, and nothing if it is not. One that is not loaded can still be loaded later by anything that needs it.
Show whether Debian builds this, per release
Debian builds this, but not on every flavour. At least one release below builds the code on some of its kernel flavours and not on others, so the answer depends on the architecture and flavour installed.
- bookworm, trixie, forky, sidMnot built on amd64/cloud-amd64, arm64/cloud-arm64
- M
- a module where it is built at all; some flavours do not build it
- Build switch
- CONFIG_NFC
From the configuration Debian publishes for every kernel flavour it builds. It covers only the architectures Debian ships a linux-config package for, and nothing about a kernel you built yourself. Debian's own status above stays authoritative about the source package.MAINTAINERS kbuild Makefiles Debian linux-config packages
Signals
- Published
- 2026-10-18 (today)source
- CVSS
- no vector published, unrated
- Attack vector
- not published
- EPSS
- not scored
- CISA KEV
- not listedthe KEV catalogue
- Debian urgency
- not yet assignedsource
- Subsystem
- net/nfc
Upstream fixes
The versions the CNA records as introducing and fixing this, and the commit for each. source
| Introduced | Fixed in | Commit |
|---|---|---|
| 3.6 | 5.10.271 | dd2d24add86b |
| 3.6 | 5.15.222 | 812731dd8511 |
| 3.6 | 6.1.189 | dba1d9c7134a |
| 3.6 | 6.6.158 | c1e9ed52a669 |
| 3.6 | 6.12.112 | 7fb2c0eeb79b |
| 3.6 | 6.18.55 | b94cf0972054 |
| 3.6 | 7.2.9 | 320a2ff49bdc |
| 3.6 | 7.3 | bf1460acdf8c |
Why the CNA scored it this way
The kernel CNA published no CVSS vector and no reasoning for CVE-2026-98581, which is why it is shown as unrated rather than given an invented score. 6,405 of the 20,413 CVEs here carry reasoning; this is not one of them.