Kernel-data disclosure via unbounded exception logging
Published Oct 18, 2026 · Updated Oct 18, 2026
Linux's btintel driver allows attackers to expose adjacent kernel bytes via an unbounded read when logging exception information. In btintel_hw_error(), the exception-message print treats skb->data + 1 as a NUL-terminated string although the 12-byte payload has no guaranteed terminator. The path requires Intel Bluetooth hardware-error handling and a non-NUL-terminated controller response; attacker control and access to the resulting logs are undocumented.
Summary
What happened
Linux's btintel driver allows attackers to expose adjacent kernel bytes via an unbounded read when logging exception information. In btintel_hw_error(), the exception-message print treats skb->data + 1 as a NUL-terminated string although the 12-byte payload has no guaranteed terminator. The path requires Intel Bluetooth hardware-error handling and a non-NUL-terminated controller response; attacker control and access to the resulting logs are undocumented.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2026-98732
- Published
- Oct 18, 2026
- Updated
- Oct 18, 2026
- Vendor
- The Linux Kernel Organization
- Product
- Linux
- Classifications
- Unavailable
- Attack vector
- Unavailable
- Privileges
- Unavailable
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Oct 18, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Oct 18, 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=4.3
- Affected versionversion=973bb97e5aee56edddaae3d5c96877101ad509c0 <40eb4b18ad167b63644c27fa67a7400ba050379a
- Affected versionversion=973bb97e5aee56edddaae3d5c96877101ad509c0 <673f707518e8ef03306f84c512cb160971f175fe
- Affected versionversion=973bb97e5aee56edddaae3d5c96877101ad509c0 <bbc7de352f3f3864369c904aac944c7de84c6e7b
- Affected versionversion=973bb97e5aee56edddaae3d5c96877101ad509c0 <c42ce5373405ca93946311652c51ccfeb1c2d913
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
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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
No sourced classifications are available.
Public exploit references
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Technologies
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