CVE Catalog

CVE-2026-98562

Low risk· EPSS 8%
Published: Updated: Translated: NVD NIST

Exploitation Probability (EPSS)

Low risk
0.19%

8th percentile - higher than 8% of all known CVEs

Summary

In the Linux kernel, the libwx network driver (WangXun NIC) has a race condition in Tx timestamp handling. The wx->ptp_tx_skb pointer is shared between the Tx path, the PTP auxiliary worker, and cleanup paths, which can lead to a use-after-free of the skb and a reference leak. The fix adds a dedicated spinlock protecting publication and consumption of the Tx timestamp skb.

Risk Assessment

The flaw can cause a use-after-free in the kernel, potentially leading to a system crash (panic) or, in extreme cases, privilege escalation. It affects systems with WangXun network cards handled by the libwx driver and PTP enabled.

Recommendation

Update the Linux kernel to a version containing the fix for CVE-2026-98562 (fix in the net: libwx driver). If updating is not possible, consider disabling PTP functionality on affected network interfaces.

Related vulnerabilities

Original NVD description (English source)

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net: libwx: fix races in Tx timestamp handling wx->ptp_tx_skb is shared between the Tx path, the PTP auxiliary worker and the timestamp cleanup paths. The WX_STATE_PTP_TX_IN_PROGRESS bit prevents multiple Tx paths from submitting timestamp requests, but does not serialize the worker against cleanup. As a result, wx_ptp_clear_tx_timestamp() can free an skb after wx_ptp_tx_hwtstamp_work() has obtained its pointer. The worker may then pass the freed skb to skb_tstamp_tx() and release the same reference again. The cleanup path may also clear the in-progress bit while the worker is still processing the old skb. This allows the Tx path to publish a new skb which the worker can subsequently overwrite with NULL, leaking its reference. Add a dedicated spinlock to protect publication and consumption of the Tx timestamp skb. Detach the skb and clear the in-progress bit while holding the lock, then deliver the timestamp and release the skb after dropping it. Use the same locked cleanup in the quiesce path, but keep the detach there free of register accesses: quiesce runs during PCIe error recovery, where MMIO is not reliable, and it deliberately did not touch the device before. The lock is taken with interrupts disabled, because netpoll can call ndo_start_xmit() with hard interrupts already off. When handling a Tx DMA mapping failure, keep the transmit path reference until after comparing the skb under the lock. This prevents skb address reuse from making the error path mistake a newer timestamp request for the failed one.

Vulnerability data from NVD (NIST) · CISA KEV · EPSS