CVE-2026-98340

A flaw was found in the Linux kernel's cfg80211 wireless subsystem. When processing wireless scan responses, the kernel incorrectly groups network entries for hidden networks before receiving the necessary beacon data. A nearby attacker could exploit this vulnerability by transmitting specially crafted wireless frames, triggering kernel assertion warnings and potentially causing system instability or a Denial of Service (DoS).

A moderate impact flaw was found in the cfg80211 wireless subsystem of the Linux kernel as shipped in Red Hat Enterprise Linux (kernel and kernel-rt), Red Hat In-Vehicle OS, and the RHEL CoreOS layers of OpenShift Container Platform. While processing wireless scan results, __cfg80211_bss_update() could group BSS entries for hidden networks that originated from probe responses before a beacon carrying the required information elements had been received. If a beacon with a hidden SSID for the same BSSID and channel later arrived, cfg80211_combine_bsses() found entries that were already grouped with each other and triggered its WARN_ON_ONCE kernel assertion warnings. A nearby attacker within radio range of a system performing a wireless scan could exploit this flaw by transmitting a crafted sequence of 802.11 management frames, causing system instability or a denial of service; on systems configured with panic_on_warn, the resulting warnings could cause a kernel panic. No information disclosure, data modification, or memory corruption is established by the affected code path, so the impact is limited to availability, consistent with the moderate severity rating. The fix for this issue is deferred for the affected Red Hat product streams and will be addressed in a future scheduled update; until then, the residual risk is that a nearby attacker can trigger the kernel warnings and wireless scanning instability described above.

The CVSS score(s) listed for this vulnerability do not reflect the associated product's status, and are included for informational purposes to better understand the severity of this vulnerability.

Mitigation for this issue is either not available or the currently available options do not meet the Red Hat Product Security criteria comprising ease of use and deployment, applicability to widespread installation base, or stability.