---
id: CVE-2026-98160
title: |-
  In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

  staging: rtl8723bs: fix mismatched free of HalData in rtw_sdio_if1_init()

  padapter->HalData is allocated via vzalloc(), but incorrectly freed
  using kfree() in the rtw_…
summary: |-
  In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

  staging: rtl8723bs: fix mismatched free of HalData in rtw_sdio_if1_init()

  padapter->HalData is allocated via vzalloc(), but incorrectly freed
  using kfree() in the rtw_…
severity: medium
cvss: 5.5
cvssVector: 'CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H'
cwe:
  - CWE-763
vendor: linux
product: linux_kernel
affected:
  - 'linux_kernel >= 4.12, < 5.10.270'
  - 'linux_kernel >= 5.11, < 5.15.221'
  - 'linux_kernel >= 5.16, < 6.1.188'
  - 'linux_kernel >= 6.2, < 6.6.157'
  - 'linux_kernel >= 6.7, < 6.12.110'
  - 'linux_kernel >= 6.13, < 6.18.52'
  - 'linux_kernel >= 6.19, < 7.2.6'
patched:
  - linux_kernel 7.2.6
published: '2026-09-25'
updated: '2026-10-02'
sourceUpdated: '2026-10-02T20:34:50.893'
source: NVD
sourceUrl: 'https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-98160'
references:
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/264676418b726baca7be49171e306b6aa05cceb0'
    label: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/423574feaed192063ef0cd0813fb85425f39e539'
    label: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/4520d673d49dabfd42c008a33889251025f7d6d5'
    label: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/6c017ab2b0e1b60b5be94636c94720347213d78b'
    label: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/737c928ff5092d7e55128a232c231248fc993777'
    label: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/911190f0b9511c3c81f2f2484414c1ae26f636b3'
    label: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/d6158333d630a1b21d8914feaf77a6f5deb185d9'
    label: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/ff6d1ba247b5c62bdb678f1069abc86ad88a1402'
    label: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
  - url: >-
      https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/2026/cve-2026-98160.json
  - url: 'https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-98160'
  - url: 'https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2541424'
  - url: 'https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-98160'
  - url: 'https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-98160'
  - url: >-
      https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/security/vulns.git/plain/cve/published/2026/CVE-2026-98160.mbox
tags:
  - nvd
  - cve.org
  - csaf
  - vex
  - red-hat
epss: 0.00114
epssPercentile: 0.01485
ingestedAt: '2026-09-25T14:09:46.375Z'
---

## Overview

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

staging: rtl8723bs: fix mismatched free of HalData in rtw_sdio_if1_init()

padapter->HalData is allocated via vzalloc(), but incorrectly freed
using kfree() in the rtw_sdio_if1_init() error path. Using kfree() to
release this vmalloc-backed buffer can lead to memory corruption.

Use rtw_hal_data_deinit() to pair the free correctly and free
HalData with vfree().

The bug was first flagged by an experimental static analysis tool we
are developing for kernel memory-management bugs. Manual inspection
confirms that the issue is still present in current mainline.

An x86_64 allyesconfig build showed no new warnings. As we do not have
suitable RTL8723BS SDIO hardware to test with, no runtime testing was
able to be performed.

## Affected

- `linux_kernel >= 4.12, < 5.10.270`
- `linux_kernel >= 5.11, < 5.15.221`
- `linux_kernel >= 5.16, < 6.1.188`
- `linux_kernel >= 6.2, < 6.6.157`
- `linux_kernel >= 6.7, < 6.12.110`
- `linux_kernel >= 6.13, < 6.18.52`
- `linux_kernel >= 6.19, < 7.2.6`

## Remediation

Upgrade past the affected range:

- `linux_kernel 7.2.6`

## Vendor advisories

- **Red Hat VEX** · Moderate · updated 2026-10-02 · [vex](https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/2026/cve-2026-98160.json)