# CVE-2026-98073: net: Remove conflicting altnames for dying netns in __dev_change_net_namespace().

CVE-2026-98073 is fixed in linux on 1 platform, first by DEBIAN-CVE-2026-98073, released October 2, 2026. It is not reported as exploited. Patch Radar priority: High.

- Web page: https://patchblox.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-98073
- Priority: High
- CVSS: 7.8 (Important)
- EPSS: 0.0016
- CISA KEV: not listed
- Exploited (vendor report): no
- Publicly disclosed: no
- Published: Sep 25, 2026
- Vendor advisory: https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/vulnerability/CVE-2026-98073

## Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:  net: Remove conflicting altnames for dying netns in __dev_change_net_namespace().  syzbot reported the warning in cfg80211_pernet_exit(). [0]  The repro does the following:    1. create two device in root netns and non-root netns   2. assign the same altname for the two devices   3. remove the non-root netns  Since commit 7663d522099e ("net: check for altname conflicts when changing netdev's netns"), cfg80211_switch_netns() and cfg802154_switch_netns() fail if init_net has a device with the conflicting altname.  default_device_exit_net() had the same issue and commit d09486a04f5d ("net: fix removing a namespace with conflicting altnames") fixed it.  cfg80211_pernet_exit() and cfg802154_pernet_exit() need the same fix.  Let's generalise the fix by removing conflicting altnames for dying netns in __dev_change_net_namespace().  [0]: cfg80211_switch_netns(rdev, &init_net) WARNING: net/wireless/core.c:1871 at cfg80211_pernet_exit+0xd5/0x120 net/wireless/core.c:1871, CPU#1: kworker/u8:9/1160 Modules linked in: CPU: 1 UID: 0 PID: 1160 Comm: kworker/u8:9 Not tainted syzkaller #0 PREEMPT(full) Hardware name: Google Google Compute Engine/Google Compute Engine, BIOS Google 07/24/2026 Workqueue: netns cleanup_net RIP: 0010:cfg80211_pernet_exit+0xd5/0x120 net/wireless/core.c:1871 Code: e8 03 42 80 3c 20 00 74 08 4c 89 f7 e8 b4 ef 0e f7 4d 8b 36 49 81 fe 20 10 4a 90 74 12 e8 03 3d 9f f6 eb 85 e8 fc 3c 9f f6 90 <0f> 0b 90 eb cc e8 f1 3c 9f f6 eb 05 e8 ea 3c 9f f6 5b 41 5c 41 5e RSP: 0018:ffffc900057a78f0 EFLAGS: 00010293 RAX: ffffffff8b287154 RBX: ffff88807ba72780 RCX: ffff8880213e8000 RDX: 0000000000000000 RSI: 00000000ffffffef RDI: 0000000000000000 RBP: 00000000ffffffef R08: ffffffff9024cc67 R09: 0000000000000000 R10: fffff52000af4eb0 R11: fffffbfff204998d R12: dffffc0000000000 R13: ffffffff904a1080 R14: ffff888144ed0008 R15: ffff888144ed0e20 FS:  0000000000000000(0000) GS:ffff888124de6000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000 CS:  0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033 CR2: 00005642de0a8a70 CR3: 000000007a40c000 CR4: 00000000003526f0 Call Trace:  <TASK>  ops_exit_list net/core/net_namespace.c:200 [inline]  ops_undo_list+0x43d/0x8d0 net/core/net_namespace.c:253  cleanup_net+0x572/0x810 net/core/net_namespace.c:706  process_one_work kernel/workqueue.c:3387 [inline]  process_scheduled_works+0xc3d/0x1630 kernel/workqueue.c:3470  worker_thread+0xa47/0xfb0 kernel/workqueue.c:3551  kthread+0x38b/0x480 kernel/kthread.c:436  ret_from_fork+0x514/0xb70 arch/x86/kernel/process.c:158  ret_from_fork_asm+0x1a/0x30 arch/x86/entry/entry_64.S:245  </TASK>

## Where it's fixed

| Platform | Product | Fixed in | Fix | Released |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Linux | linux Debian 13.5 (trixie) | 6.12.115-2 | [DEBIAN-CVE-2026-98073](https://patchblox.com/security/data/fix/linux/debian-cve-2026-98073.md) | Oct 2, 2026 |
| Linux | linux Debian 14 | 7.2.7-1 | [DEBIAN-CVE-2026-98073](https://patchblox.com/security/data/fix/linux/debian-cve-2026-98073.md) | Oct 2, 2026 |

---

Data as of 2026-11-08T13:06:02Z UTC. Source: Patchblox Patch Radar (https://patchblox.com/security/patch-radar). Patchblox finds out-of-date software on Windows, macOS and Linux and updates it through release rings: https://patchblox.com/demo

Free to use with attribution: show "Data: Patchblox Patch Radar" with a link to https://patchblox.com/security/patch-radar. Terms, including what needs a written agreement: https://patchblox.com/security/patch-radar/use-the-data

Product names, logos and trademarks shown on Patch Radar belong to their respective owners. They are used only to identify the software each security fix applies to and to help readers find their platform. Their use does not imply any affiliation with, or endorsement by, those owners, and Patchblox is not affiliated with any of them.