Bluetooth packet loss via transmit-work drain race
Published Oct 6, 2026 · Updated Oct 6, 2026
A Bluetooth transmit-work race in Linux kernel 6.18.35 through 6.18.53 lets local users interrupt packet transmission during device shutdown. The hci_send_acl(), hci_send_sco(), and hci_send_iso() paths queue tx_work without checking whether hci_dev_close_sync() is draining its workqueue, so the kernel warns and drops the work. The demonstrated trigger races a Bluetooth socket write with HCIDEVDOWN, which requires CAP_NET_ADMIN; the documented consequence is dropped transmit work, not arbitrary code execution.
Summary
What happened
A Bluetooth transmit-work race in Linux kernel 6.18.35 through 6.18.53 lets local users interrupt packet transmission during device shutdown. The hci_send_acl(), hci_send_sco(), and hci_send_iso() paths queue tx_work without checking whether hci_dev_close_sync() is draining its workqueue, so the kernel warns and drops the work. The demonstrated trigger races a Bluetooth socket write with HCIDEVDOWN, which requires CAP_NET_ADMIN; the documented consequence is dropped transmit work, not arbitrary code execution.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2026-98297
- Published
- Oct 6, 2026
- Updated
- Oct 6, 2026
- Vendor
- The Linux Kernel Organization
- Product
- Linux
- Classifications
- T1499
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- admin
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Oct 6, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Oct 6, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
Present is not the same as exploitable
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Is a vulnerable build present?
Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.
- Affected versionversion=47330cc875b36a1cf7b3543cb2cf90a7c603ce0e <e220c1242a643d97102a79f09b7ef3aa31276961
- Affected versionversion=525daaea459fc215f432de1b8debbd9144bf97b0 <6610c6fe4b8936c232048e6049bf77c70a6f759c
- Affected versionversion=525daaea459fc215f432de1b8debbd9144bf97b0 <cbb325bc150e8c0dbce004ac0e5516bcffc0de31
- Affected versionversion=60bceb9a4c693e68cc90ba4b2dfb9e000e8638ff
- Affected versionversion=6.12.93 <6.12.112
- Affected versionversion=6.18.35 <6.18.54
- Affected versionversion=7.0.12 <7.1
- Affected versionversion=7.1
- Affected versionversion=9cebe4680bb9a72f80c6541eb24af06db7a1fbc9 <ab0678a0701ac4de499428dc1b321659bb74d272
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
No CVSS assessment is available in this record.
CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.
Attacks
What attackers are doing with it
Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.
Activity data is delayed. The latest report is Sep 28, 2026.
Weakness, pattern, technique
Public exploit references
- syzkaller C reproducer for WARNING in l2cap_chan_sendproof of concept · demonstrated
Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.
Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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