CVE-2026-43437
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ALSA: pcm: fix use-after-free on linked stream runtime in snd_pcm_drain() In the drain loop, the local variable 'runtime' is reassigned to a linked stream's runtime (runtime =…
Does this matter?
High impact if exploited, but EPSS currently rates exploitation as unlikely (0.13%). Schedule it in the normal patch cycle and watch for a rise in EPSS or a public exploit.
Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ALSA: pcm: fix use-after-free on linked stream runtime in snd_pcm_drain() In the drain loop, the local variable 'runtime' is reassigned to a linked stream's runtime (runtime = s->runtime at line 2157). After releasing the stream lock at line 2169, the code accesses runtime->no_period_wakeup, runtime->rate, and runtime->buffer_size (lines 2170-2178) — all referencing the linked stream's runtime without any lock or refcount protecting its lifetime. A concurrent close() on the linked stream's fd triggers snd_pcm_release_substream() → snd_pcm_drop() → pcm_release_private() → snd_pcm_unlink() → snd_pcm_detach_substream() → kfree(runtime). No synchronization prevents kfree(runtime) from completing while the drain path dereferences the stale pointer. Fix by caching the needed runtime fields (no_period_wakeup, rate, buffer_size) into local variables while still holding the stream lock, and using the cached values after the lock is released.
- CVSS 3.1
- 7.8 HIGHCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
- EPSS
- 0.13% probability · 3th percentile
- CISA KEV
- Not listed
- Weakness
- CWE-416
- Affected
- linux/linux kernel
- Source
- 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
References
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/4a758e9a1f5ed722f83c4dd35f867fe811553bcbPatch
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/629cf09464cf98670996ea5c191dc9743e6f3f00Patch
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/9b1dbd69ba6f8f8c69bc7b77c2ce3b9c6ed05ba6Patch
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/9baee36e8c5443411c4629afabafaff8a46a23fdPatch
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/ae8f8d30d334bad5b1b3cdb1eb8a0b771f55e432Patch
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/c2f64e05a0587a83ec42dbd6b7a7ded79b2ff694Patch
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/f2cb2e0d27fb925c73a78f0ce7d6dbf68d3747c1
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/fc71f888994569f87d5bee20b1ac6c9c1e3a7a79Patch
Source: NVD record, EPSS from FIRST.org, KEV from CISA. Refreshed daily.