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Linux Kernel EUVDEUVD-2026-86990

| CVE-2026-98159 MEDIUM
Out-of-bounds Write (CWE-787)
2026-09-25 Linux GHSA-hc5w-crxq-xmg4
5.5
CVSS 3.1 · NVD
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Attack ChainAIDerived

Hypothetical attack flow derived from CVE metadata – not a confirmed exploit chain

  1. Access
    Obtain local privileged access to firmware path
  2. Exploit
    Supply malformed CLC firmware image
  3. Execution
    Driver load triggers out-of-bounds write
  4. Impact
    Kernel memory corruption and crash (DoS)

Vulnerability Assessment

Weakness
CWE
ASVS 5.0
V15 - Secure Coding and Architecture Bounds checking, write limits
MITRE ATT&CK

2 techniques across 2 tactics: Execution, Privilege Escalation

The technique list with ATT&CK links and the kill-chain view is part of the Basic plan and up.

Exploitation Conditions

Exploitation requires that the system (1) uses the mt76/mt7921 MediaTek Wi-Fi driver and (2) loads a malformed CLC firmware image whose region count or per-record length is attacker-controlled. The specific trigger is the CLC (country/location configuration) region parsing during firmware load, where the region-table pointer can be made to precede the firmware buffer, the record loop can fail to advance, or indexing can run past the end of phy->clc. Limiting factors: this is local-only (AV:L) and needs existing privileges (PR:L) sufficient to place or present a crafted firmware blob - a normal remote network attacker cannot reach this path. Systems without MediaTek MT7921 hardware or the mt7921 driver are not affected at all, which sharply constrains the real-world attack surface.

Impact

This is a low-to-moderate real-world priority despite being a memory-corruption bug. All exploitation signals point the same direction: the provided CVSS 3.1 vector (CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H, base 5.5 MEDIUM) describes a LOCAL (AV:L), already-privileged (PR:L) attacker achieving only an availability impact (A:H), with no confidentiality or integrity loss (C:N/I:N). EPSS is very low at 0.16% (4th percentile), the CVE is NOT on the CISA KEV list, and no public PoC is referenced - so there is no evidence of exploitation and no exploit code identified at time of analysis. There is one notable tension to verify: the CWE is CWE-787 (out-of-bounds write) and the description explicitly describes an OOB write primitive, yet the official vector scores I:N (no integrity impact). An OOB write into kernel memory can plausibly yield more than a crash, so the A:H-only scoring may understate worst-case impact - the realistic outcome remains a kernel panic/DoS, but defenders should treat the write primitive as potentially more than availability. Also note the affected 'product' per CPE is the entire Linux kernel (ubiquitous), but the actually-vulnerable code is the narrow mt76/mt7921 MediaTek Wi-Fi driver path, so the true exploitable population is far smaller than the CPE implies. Net: this is a legitimate kernel-hardening fix, not an urgent, widely-exploitable threat.

Exploit ScenarioDerived

An attacker able to supply or replace the Wi-Fi firmware blob consumed by the mt7921 driver (e.g. a local privileged user tampering with the firmware image in /lib/firmware, or a malicious attached device presenting a crafted image) provides a malformed CLC region with a bogus region count or record length. During driver load the unvalidated table pointer precedes the firmware buffer or indexes past phy->clc, producing an out-of-bounds access that crashes the kernel. No public exploit code is identified, and the CVSS vector indicates this requires local access with existing privileges rather than remote delivery.

This Month Plan within 30 days. Why: MEDIUM severity (CVSS 4.0-6.9).
Patch available 0.2% exploitation probability (EPSS)

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AnalysisAIv1 – Oct 14, 2026

An out-of-bounds write in the Linux kernel's mt76 driver for MediaTek MT7921 Wi-Fi chipsets (wifi: mt76: mt7921 CLC record validation) allows a local attacker with existing privileges to corrupt kernel memory by supplying a malformed CLC firmware image whose region count or per-record length is attacker-controlled. The bug is a missing-bounds-check issue (CWE-787) during CLC region parsing on firmware load: the region-table pointer can be forced to precede the firmware buffer, the record loop can fail to advance, or an index can run past the end of phy->clc. The assessed impact is availability-only (CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H, 5.5) with EPSS of 0.16% (4th percentile) and no public exploit identified at time of analysis; it is not listed in CISA KEV, and a vendor patch is available.

RemediationAI

Vendor-released patch: upgrade the kernel to a fixed stable release containing the mt76 mt7921 CLC validation fix, i.e. Linux 6.18.53, 6.12.111, 7.2.7, or 7.3-rc1 (or apply the corresponding stable commits 602a950134ee2940136f60797e4457c3983b06ce, 3896be051e928c891922d91de94c99519d215dff, 3c505e2af16a9320f4355218394a955fbbc65322, 9417c5818a0146980c2608fda94c908e604eb033, 46673662402884ca55a869e4ebe956e08e8b6b05, 740272d46ffc8231709a5e774cf5e4a5785b8a02 from git.kernel.org). Because exploitation requires local privileges sufficient to present or place a crafted CLC firmware blob, the highest-value compensating controls are to restrict firmware loading: ensure /lib/firmware paths for MediaTek devices are root-owned and non-writable by unprivileged users, prefer vendor-signed or distro-packaged firmware over user-supplied blobs, and enable kernel module signature enforcement so untrusted kernel modules cannot stage an image. On hosts that do not need MediaTek MT7921 Wi-Fi, blacklist the mt7921e/mt7921u modules (modprobe.blacklist=mt7921e,mt7921u) or build the driver out entirely - the trade-off is loss of Wi-Fi functionality on that hardware. Where the driver must remain loaded, confining users who can supply firmware (namespace/container isolation, SELinux or AppArmor policy limiting writes to /lib/firmware) reduces reachability, but none of these substitutes for applying the kernel update, and no public exploit code has been identified so urgency is driven primarily by the availability-only impact and the low EPSS score (0.16%).

Affected VersionsENISA

Linux 23bdc5d8cadfc941e7782d0cb8afb2d9ae73b125 <3896be051e928c891922d91de94c99519d215dff
Linux 23bdc5d8cadfc941e7782d0cb8afb2d9ae73b125 <3c505e2af16a9320f4355218394a955fbbc65322
Linux 23bdc5d8cadfc941e7782d0cb8afb2d9ae73b125 <602a950134ee2940136f60797e4457c3983b06ce
Linux 23bdc5d8cadfc941e7782d0cb8afb2d9ae73b125 <9417c5818a0146980c2608fda94c908e604eb033
Linux 6.1
Linux patch: 0
Linux patch: 7.2.7
Linux patch: 6.18.53
Linux patch: 6.12.111
Linux patch: 7.3-rc1

Affected Packages

euvd linux no fix

Source: OSV (Open Source Vulnerabilities)

Affects your stack

Affects 1 package in euvd

Checking this CVE against your own stacks and servers is part of the Basic plan and up.

Technical ContextAI · show details

The vulnerability lives in the MediaTek mt76 driver stack, specifically the mt7921 (MT7921/MT7922-class PCIe and USB Wi-Fi) code path that parses the CLC (country/location configuration) data blob loaded from firmware. CLC records describe regulatory region tables, and the loader historically trusted both the top-level region count and each record's declared length. Because those values come from the firmware image rather than being validated against the actual firmware buffer size, a crafted image can make the region-table pointer point before the start of the firmware buffer (underflow), cause the record-iteration loop to never advance and spin/overrun, or produce an index that writes past the end of the phy->clc array. The referenced CWE-787 (out-of-bounds write) captures the root cause class: insufficient validation of attacker-influenced lengths and counts before dereferencing or copying, i.e. a classic missing-bounds-check in kernel firmware parsing code. The kernel CPE (cpe:2.3:a:linux:linux) confirms this is a mainline/stable Linux kernel defect rather than a separate vendor product, and the fix commits touch the mt76 mt7921 CLC handling in the stable trees.

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  • Exploit and PoC references, threat intelligence from 22 sources

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Severity by source

NVD PRIMARY 5.5 MEDIUM
AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
vuln.today AI 5.5 MEDIUM

Firmware supplied through a local, privileged path so AV:L/PR:L; parsing bug triggers deterministically on load (AC:L); impact is a kernel crash (A:H) with no confidentiality/integrity loss scored, consistent with the OOB-write DoS described.

3.1 AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
4.0 AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N

Primary rating from NVD.

CVSS VectorNVD

Attack Vector
Local
Attack Complexity
Low
Privileges Required
Low
User Interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

Lifecycle Timeline

4
CVSS changed
Oct 14, 2026 - 16:22 NVD
5.5 (MEDIUM)
Patch available
Sep 25, 2026 - 12:02 EUVD
CVE Published
Sep 25, 2026 - 10:36 nvd
MEDIUM 5.5
CVE Published
Sep 25, 2026 - 10:36 cve.org
UNKNOWN (no severity yet)

DescriptionNVD

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

wifi: mt76: mt7921: validate CLC firmware records

The CLC region is supplied by firmware, but the loader trusts the region count and each record length. A malformed image can make the region table pointer precede the firmware buffer, make the record loop fail to advance, or index phy->clc past its end. Validate the table and record bounds before dereferencing or copying.

Threat Intelligence Overview

EPSS Score
0.2%
Top 96% exploitable
Prevalence
Medium
Narrow MediaTek MT7921 Wi-Fi driver; common in consumer laptops, not all systems
Data Quality
5 sources
Confidence: Medium

How this decision was reached

The engine reads each signal below and applies a fixed list of rules from top to bottom. The first rule that matches sets the recommended action – like a statement, every line is shown.

SignalValue
Severity MEDIUM
CISA KEV No
Public POC No
EPSS 0.2%
Patch available Yes
Active threat No
Deciding rule
MEDIUM severity (CVSS 4.0-6.9)
What every action level means
Emergency Immediate action required. Criteria: CRITICAL + in CISA KEV (actively exploited) without patch, OR CRITICAL + EPSS > 30% without patch, OR CRITICAL + active threat signals without patch.
Act Now Prioritize within 24-48h. Criteria: in KEV with patch available, OR CRITICAL + public POC, OR HIGH + EPSS > 10%, OR CRITICAL + active threat, OR any CRITICAL severity.
This Week Schedule remediation this week. Criteria: HIGH severity (CVSS 7.0-8.9). Patch within normal change window.
This Month Plan within 30 days. Criteria: MEDIUM severity (CVSS 4.0-6.9), lower exploitation probability. Include in regular patch cycle.
Monitor Track and reassess. Criteria: LOW severity (CVSS 0.1-3.9), minimal exploitation risk. No immediate action needed.

SSVC AssessmentENISA

SSVC Decision· derived
Defer
Exploitation· derived
None
System Exposure· derived
Small
Automatable· derived
No
Human Impact· derived
Medium

Priority Score

28
Low Medium High Critical
KEV: 0
EPSS: 0
CVSS: +28
PoC: 0
Weaponized: 0
Threat intel: 0
Gov advisory: 0

Attack Technique

A buffer overflow occurs when a program writes more data to a memory buffer than it was allocated to hold, causing the excess data to spill into adjacent memory regions.

Memory corruption occurs when a program writes data beyond the boundaries of allocated memory regions or accesses memory in unintended ways, violating the integrity of the process's address space.

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