CVE-2026-98340

Published Oct 6, 2026

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: wifi: cfg80211: only group hidden BSSes with beacon entries When a probe response for an unknown BSS comes in, __cfg80211_bss_update() looks for an existing entry with the same BSSID and a hidden (zero-length or NUL-filled) SSID, and if it finds one it groups them, using the beacon IEs from the existing entry. But that could find another entry without a beacon, if it was also from a probe response (with SSID), so there's a group without beacon elements. If a beacon with a hidden SSID for that BSSID arrives later, cfg80211_combine_bsses() goes looking for the probe response entries that belong to it - i.e. entries with the same BSSID and channel that have no beacon IEs - and finds those two. They are already grouped with each other, so it hits its WARN_ON_ONCE(bss->pub.hidden_beacon_bss) WARN_ON_ONCE(!list_empty(&bss->hidden_list)) which are there because an entry without beacon elements is not supposed to be part of a group yet. Only combine entries when a beacon was already received, ones that are kept separate will be combined when a beacon arrives.

Is your site exposed to CVE-2026-98340?

Run a free security scan — no signup, results in seconds.

EPSS — Exploit Prediction

0.0018
Probability of exploitation
0.07%
Percentile rank

EPSS estimates the probability that this vulnerability will be exploited in the wild within the next 30 days. A higher score means more likely to be exploited.

References

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2026-98340? +
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: wifi: cfg80211: only group hidden BSSes with beacon entries When a probe response for an unknown BSS comes in, __cfg80211_bss_update() looks for an existing entry with the same BSSID and a hidden (zero-length or NUL-filled) SSID, and if it finds one it groups them, using the beacon IEs from the existing entry. But that could find another entry without a beacon, if it was also from a probe response (with SSID), so there's a group without beacon elements. If a beacon with a hidden SSID for that BSSID arrives later, cfg80211_combine_bsses() goes looking for the probe response entries that belong to it - i.e. entries with the same BSSID and channel that have no beacon IEs - and finds those two. They are already grouped with each other, so it hits its WARN_ON_ONCE(bss->pub.hidden_beacon_bss) WARN_ON_ONCE(!list_empty(&bss->hidden_list)) which are there because an entry without beacon elements is not supposed to be part of a group yet. Only combine entries when a beacon was already received, ones that are kept separate will be combined when a beacon arrives.
How do I check if I'm vulnerable to CVE-2026-98340? +
You can use Secably's free Website Scanner to check your website for known vulnerabilities. For infrastructure scanning, use the Port Scanner to identify exposed services that may be affected. Check the vendor advisories linked above for specific patch and version information.

Don't wait for an exploit

Scan your website for vulnerabilities like CVE-2026-98340 — free, no signup required.