* [CVE-2026-98191][LOW] wifi: wlcore: release runtime PM ref on regdomain config failure
@ 2026-10-08 17:22 21% AL-KERNEL
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From: AL-KERNEL @ 2026-10-08 17:22 UTC (permalink / raw)
To: kernel-cve
CVE: CVE-2026-98191
Priority: LOW
AL-KERNEL base severity: LOW
KPANIC flag: NO
Patch: wifi: wlcore: release runtime PM ref on regdomain config failure
Commit: 85ec6c451fe681ac3135dfa43a519f1404ae63ad
Upstream patch: https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git/commit/?id=85ec6c451fe681ac3135dfa43a519f1404ae63ad
Original CVE announcement: https://lore.kernel.org/linux-cve-announce/?q=CVE-2026-98191
Analysis date: Thu, 08 Oct 2026 13:22:57 -0400
ActionableScore: 1
ActionableScore lower bound: unknown
Actionable bucket: Ordinary Moderate
Manual review required: NO
Summary:
No one-sentence report phrase was found.
======================================================================
ABOUT THIS REPORT
======================================================================
The original Linux kernel CVE announcement for CVE-2026-98191 is available here:
https://lore.kernel.org/linux-cve-announce/?q=CVE-2026-98191
The original announcement does not normally provide a security severity
estimate, CVSS assessment, or enough information to determine whether the
reported kernel bug represents a practically relevant security issue.
This report was generated by AL-KERNEL, an AI-assisted Linux kernel
vulnerability analysis system developed by Alexander Larkin. It combines
an autonomous classifier with LLM-assisted technical analysis and a
separate ActionableScore mechanism.
The purpose of this report is to prioritize Linux kernel CVEs before
manual review, identify cases that require prompt investigation, and
support automatic closure of issues that are unlikely to have meaningful
security impact.
Published priority for this report: LOW
Manual review required: NO
A detailed explanation of the methodology and priority rules is included
at the end of this message.
======================================================================
AL-KERNEL CLASSIFICATION RESULT
======================================================================
CVE-2026-98191 LOW https://www.kernelcve.org/list/?q=CVE-2026-98191 CHECK WITH IMPACT FROM ORIG NN MODERATE | AEGIS IMPACT LOW AEGIS_AS=1 LEGACY=LOW RESULT=SAME (legacy and Aegis reconciliation agree; DECISION: both LOW) Maybe valid. Check manually. Hints by AL-KERNEL: The best (paranoid) CVSS is 'AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L';*CWE-772;CWE-404;CWE-459;Other CVSS 'AV:L/AC:H/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L';BEST CVSS score: '2.5';DESCR 'wlcore_regdomain_config can leak a runtime PM reference when the regulatory domain command fails because the error path queues recovery and returns without balancing pm_runtime_resume_and_get. Repeated failures can keep the wireless device active and can increase power consumption by preventing normal runtime suspend. For the CVSS the PR:L value is used for the paranoid score because a reduced capability service account or container root may have delegated CAP_NET_ADMIN and may initiate regulatory configuration handling without full host administrator privileges. AC:H applies because the vulnerable path additionally requires the firmware command to fail. The issue is local and is not directly reachable through ordinary wireless network traffic. Impact is limited to availability and power management degradation. There is no supported UAF OOB access information leak or memory write primitive.';NO MANUAL CHECK; ,and ActionableScore result is Ordinary Moderate (with actual score 1) MAYBE REMOTE SIMPLEFIX NETWORK DECREASED_TO_MODERATE_REGULAR_FROM_MODERATE7_BASED_ON_GUESSCVSS DECREASED_TO_LOW_FROM_MODERATE_BASED_ON_ACTIONABLESCORELESSTHAN3 - - checked
======================================================================
ACTIONABLESCORE ANALYSIS
======================================================================
ActionableScore=1
PrimitiveClass=NONE
RealUAF=NO
HostAdminRequired=UNKNOWN
NamespaceScopedPrivilege=UNKNOWN
ImportantCandidate=NO
ManualReview=NO
AutoDowngradeAllowed=YES
1. ActionableScore
* Raw conservative score: 1
* Conservative score: 1
* Raw paranoid score: 1
* Paranoid score: 1
* No floor or cap applied.
* Final recommended bucket: **Ordinary Moderate**::
2. Signal breakdown
* +1 Concrete persistent kernel resource/reference leak. `pm_runtime_resume_and_get()` acquires a runtime PM reference that the failure path did not release.
* No reliable crash or strong DoS point. The established effect is preventing runtime suspend and increasing power consumption.
* No resource-exhaustion point. Host-wide exhaustion, isolation bypass, or persistent system unavailability is not established.
* No UAF, stale access, repeated release, OOB access, arbitrary write, disclosure, or authorization bypass is present.
* No remote-reachability point. Ordinary wireless traffic is not shown to control this regulatory command failure.
* No privilege penalty. Host-admin-equivalent privilege is not positively established.
* No hardware penalty. The code is hardware-specific, but the supplied evidence does not establish rare or physical attacker-controlled hardware as a trigger requirement.
3. Reachability analysis
The affected path requires a wlcore device, the driver, a regulatory-domain configuration attempt, and failure of the firmware command. The evidence does not establish that ordinary network traffic or an unprivileged local user can force this complete sequence. CAP_NET_ADMIN or a management service may participate, but the governing namespace and complete privilege boundary are not shown, so both host-admin and namespace-scoped reachability remain unknown. Driver and hardware provisioning are prior system prerequisites. This is an ordered error path, not a race.
4. Primitive and severity interpretation
The exact defect is an unbalanced runtime PM reference. It retains the device activity reference after command failure, potentially preventing runtime suspend and increasing power consumption. It does not free an object, retain a dangling pointer, or perform a second lifetime mutation through freed storage. Therefore it is neither an active-object UAF nor fixed stale storage, and `PrimitiveClass=NONE` is appropriate.
The demonstrated consequence is device power-management degradation. Repeated failures may accumulate usage-count imbalance, but host-wide exhaustion or kernel failure is not established. Stronger consequences such as memory corruption or privilege escalation are unsupported. There is no Important-grade unresolved primitive, so automatic downgrade is allowed.
5. One-sentence report phrase
A failed wlcore regulatory-domain command leaked a runtime PM reference and could keep the wireless device active, but no memory corruption, remote trigger, or host-wide denial of service is established.
6. Manual review recommendation
NO MANUAL CHECK NEEDED
The patch establishes a narrow runtime PM reference leak with device-local power impact and no unresolved corruption or security-boundary primitive.
7. Call-site confidence
Call-site confidence: high
======================================================================
UPSTREAM PATCH SUMMARY
======================================================================
Patch: wifi: wlcore: release runtime PM ref on regdomain config failure
Commit: 85ec6c451fe681ac3135dfa43a519f1404ae63ad
Upstream URL: https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git/commit/?id=85ec6c451fe681ac3135dfa43a519f1404ae63ad
Commit description:
wlcore_regdomain_config() gets a runtime PM reference before sending
the regulatory-domain command. When
wlcore_cmd_regdomain_config_locked() fails, the function queues recovery
and returns without dropping that reference.
Release the reference after handling the command result so both success
and failure paths balance the preceding
pm_runtime_resume_and_get(). The recovery worker takes a separate
runtime PM reference and cannot release the reference held here.
Fixes: fa2648a ("wlcore: Add support for runtime PM")
Cc: [email protected]
Signed-off-by: Runyu Xiao <[email protected]>
Link: https://patch.msgid.link/[email protected]
Signed-off-by: Johannes Berg <[email protected]>
Signed-off-by: Greg Kroah-Hartman <[email protected]>
Changed files:
drivers/net/wireless/ti/wlcore/main.c
Diff excerpt:
Not included in this email. See the upstream URL for the full patch.
Full patch:
https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git/commit/?id=85ec6c451fe681ac3135dfa43a519f1404ae63ad
======================================================================
DETAILED REPORT METHODOLOGY
======================================================================
The original Linux kernel CVE announcement for CVE-2026-98191 can be found here:
https://lore.kernel.org/linux-cve-announce/?q=CVE-2026-98191
The original CVE announcement normally does not include a security-level
estimate. In particular, it may not contain a CVSS assessment, an impact
level, or enough information to determine whether the reported bug is a
practically relevant security issue. One purpose of this parallel CVE list
is to provide that missing technical and prioritization information.
The original goal of the AL-KERNEL project was to prioritize Linux kernel
CVE analysis automatically before manual review. The system can also help
identify non-security issues that may be suitable for automatic closure.
This report was generated by AL-KERNEL, an AI-assisted Linux kernel
vulnerability analysis system developed by Alexander Larkin.
The first analysis stage combines an autonomous classifier with additional
LLM-based analysis. The autonomous classifier runs locally on a CPU and is
based on a backpropagation neural network. Together, these mechanisms
produce a technical vulnerability description, identify likely weakness
types, estimate CVSS severity, and provide input for ActionableScore.
Two CVSS estimates are retained because incomplete kernel vulnerability
information often permits more than one defensible interpretation:
Conservative CVSS vector: AV:L/AC:H/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L
The Best / paranoid CVSS vector: AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L
The Best / paranoid CVSS score: 2.5
The conservative vector represents a lower-impact interpretation.
The Best/paranoid vector intentionally represents a plausible upper-bound
interpretation and should not automatically be treated as demonstrated
real-world impact.
CVSS may also need to be adjusted for a particular Linux deployment,
because actual reachability, privileges, enabled kernel configuration,
hardware, namespaces, exposed device nodes, and other environmental
conditions can differ significantly between systems.
A separate ActionableScore mechanism evaluates practical remediation
urgency. Its analysis may include reachability, attack prerequisites,
subsystem exposure, memory-corruption characteristics, denial-of-service
reliability, and possible confidentiality, integrity, or
privilege-escalation impact.
Conservative ActionableScore: unknown
Paranoid ActionableScore: 1
The final base severity is taken directly from the second tab-separated
field of the AL-KERNEL classification result. ActionableScore does not
replace or independently override that final AL-KERNEL decision, and
if ActionableScore adjusted impact level of ALKERNEL, then you would see
self-readable flags above like INCREASED_TO_HIGH_BASED_ON_ACTIONABLESCOREHIGHEREQTHAN7.
For an AL-KERNEL result of MODERATE, this report uses the following
additional presentation split:
ActionableScore below 5 -> MODERATE REGULAR
ActionableScore 5 or more -> MODERATE 7.0
The distinction between MODERATE REGULAR and MODERATE 7.0 makes it
possible to identify Moderate issues that should receive manual analysis
and fixes before lower-priority MODERATE REGULAR issues. In many cases,
MODERATE REGULAR fixes may wait for a later rebase or routine update.
There is one override in which MODERATE REGULAR becomes MODERATE 7.0
even when the ActionableScore is below 5. When the AL-KERNEL result
contains the KPANIC flag, a MODERATE result is always presented as
MODERATE 7.0. The KPANIC flag selected with few regexps without
usage of AI at all, so it helps to detect cases when Kernel Crash happens
and similar (to filter False-Negative results from the LLM usage).
KPANIC indicates that a reliable kernel crash, kernel panic, or similarly
serious kernel availability impact was identified by the classification
workflow.
AL-KERNEL base severity for this report: LOW
KPANIC detected for this report: NO
Published priority for this report (same as in Subject): LOW
These results are intended to support engineering triage. They are
machine-generated estimates, and cases marked for manual review should
be validated by a human security engineer before final disposition.
For more info read docs linked from here: https://kernelcve.org/
(and you can submit you own patch there to generate such a report
for non-existant CVE-id yet).
Note that in many cases this AI tool selects higher severity, than
real is (means you can expect Importants instead of Moderate 7.0 or
Moderates 7.0 instead of regular Moderates). If you see such cases,
please use reply email interface to add additional manual analyses
info to this particular CVE.
And please, please, let me know when you see Lows instead of Importants
or Important instead of Low (because particular for such cases I
need to tune this AI tool to make it better for this one and next similar).
My contact email for such notifications is [email protected] (and both
send reply to CVE record itself too and see "reply" button below for howto reply).
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