{"id":"CVE-2026-98266","state":"PUBLISHED","title":"ALSA: core: Fix potential UAF after asynchronous card release","description":"In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\nALSA: core: Fix potential UAF after asynchronous card release\n\nUsually a sound driver releases the resources assigned to the card via\nsnd_card_free(), and it synchronizes with the whole release procedure.\nHowever, when the card is released asynchronously via\nsnd_card_free_when_closed() like USB-audio driver, the situation is\nslightly different; although the snd_card_disconnect() call at the\ndisconnection guarantees that any newer accesses will be gated, the\nin-flight tasks might be still accessing to the underlying card->dev\ndevice even after the disconnection, which would cause a\nuse-after-free in the end, as reported by fuzzers.\n\nFor addressing the bug above, this patch takes the refcount of\ncard->dev at initialization of the card object, and releases at its\ndestructor.   This assures the availability of the card->dev in its\nwhole lifecycle.","publishedAt":"2026-10-06T08:45:29.236Z","updatedAt":"2026-10-19T09:16:37.189Z","severity":null,"assigner":"Linux","products":["Linux Linux"],"affected":[{"vendor":"Linux","product":"Linux","defaultStatus":"unaffected","versions":[{"version":"1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2","status":"affected","lessThan":"5c0df40aa577e405c458e44e8d458dd78407f4af","versionType":"git"},{"version":"1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2","status":"affected","lessThan":"2dec4642589a663e064e4411d92d6e8fa250d53b","versionType":"git"},{"version":"1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2","status":"affected","lessThan":"398b21608955c9712a012355b69a39407367edc9","versionType":"git"},{"version":"1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2","status":"affected","lessThan":"fd95e68df6fe66344161a1329cbe5e5805e7b704","versionType":"git"}],"repo":"https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git","programFiles":["sound/core/init.c"]},{"vendor":"Linux","product":"Linux","defaultStatus":"affected","versions":[{"version":"2.6.12","status":"affected"},{"version":"0","status":"unaffected","lessThan":"2.6.12","versionType":"semver"},{"version":"6.12.112","status":"unaffected","lessThanOrEqual":"6.12.*","versionType":"semver"},{"version":"6.18.54","status":"unaffected","lessThanOrEqual":"6.18.*","versionType":"semver"},{"version":"7.2.8","status":"unaffected","lessThanOrEqual":"7.2.*","versionType":"semver"},{"version":"7.3","status":"unaffected","lessThanOrEqual":"*","versionType":"original_commit_for_fix"}],"repo":"https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git","programFiles":["sound/core/init.c"]}],"references":["https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/5c0df40aa577e405c458e44e8d458dd78407f4af","https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/2dec4642589a663e064e4411d92d6e8fa250d53b","https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/398b21608955c9712a012355b69a39407367edc9","https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/fd95e68df6fe66344161a1329cbe5e5805e7b704"],"weaknesses":[],"ingestedAt":"2026-10-29T20:13:43.249Z","source":{"repository":"CVEProject/cvelistV5","path":"cves/2026/98xxx/CVE-2026-98266.json","commit":"556c9d3a8cd17e218bb8e452ba7cd619a384ff47"},"raw":{"dataType":"CVE_RECORD","dataVersion":"5.2","cveMetadata":{"cveId":"CVE-2026-98266","state":"PUBLISHED","datePublished":"2026-10-06T08:45:29.236Z","dateUpdated":"2026-10-19T09:16:37.189Z","assignerShortName":"Linux","assignerOrgId":"416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67","dateReserved":"2026-09-25T10:25:14.333Z"},"containers":{"cna":{"title":"ALSA: core: Fix potential UAF after asynchronous card release","descriptions":[{"lang":"en","value":"In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\nALSA: core: Fix potential UAF after asynchronous card release\n\nUsually a sound driver releases the resources assigned to the card via\nsnd_card_free(), and it synchronizes with the whole release procedure.\nHowever, when the card is released asynchronously via\nsnd_card_free_when_closed() like USB-audio driver, the situation is\nslightly different; although the snd_card_disconnect() call at the\ndisconnection guarantees that any newer accesses will be gated, the\nin-flight tasks might be still accessing to the underlying card->dev\ndevice even after the disconnection, which would cause a\nuse-after-free in the end, as reported by fuzzers.\n\nFor addressing the bug above, this patch takes the refcount of\ncard->dev at initialization of the card object, and releases at its\ndestructor.   This assures the availability of the card->dev in its\nwhole lifecycle."}],"affected":[{"vendor":"Linux","product":"Linux","defaultStatus":"unaffected","versions":[{"version":"1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2","status":"affected","lessThan":"5c0df40aa577e405c458e44e8d458dd78407f4af","versionType":"git"},{"version":"1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2","status":"affected","lessThan":"2dec4642589a663e064e4411d92d6e8fa250d53b","versionType":"git"},{"version":"1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2","status":"affected","lessThan":"398b21608955c9712a012355b69a39407367edc9","versionType":"git"},{"version":"1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2","status":"affected","lessThan":"fd95e68df6fe66344161a1329cbe5e5805e7b704","versionType":"git"}],"repo":"https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git","programFiles":["sound/core/init.c"]},{"vendor":"Linux","product":"Linux","defaultStatus":"affected","versions":[{"version":"2.6.12","status":"affected"},{"version":"0","status":"unaffected","lessThan":"2.6.12","versionType":"semver"},{"version":"6.12.112","status":"unaffected","lessThanOrEqual":"6.12.*","versionType":"semver"},{"version":"6.18.54","status":"unaffected","lessThanOrEqual":"6.18.*","versionType":"semver"},{"version":"7.2.8","status":"unaffected","lessThanOrEqual":"7.2.*","versionType":"semver"},{"version":"7.3","status":"unaffected","lessThanOrEqual":"*","versionType":"original_commit_for_fix"}],"repo":"https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git","programFiles":["sound/core/init.c"]}],"references":[{"url":"https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/5c0df40aa577e405c458e44e8d458dd78407f4af"},{"url":"https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/2dec4642589a663e064e4411d92d6e8fa250d53b"},{"url":"https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/398b21608955c9712a012355b69a39407367edc9"},{"url":"https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/fd95e68df6fe66344161a1329cbe5e5805e7b704"}],"providerMetadata":{"shortName":"Linux","orgId":"416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67","dateUpdated":"2026-10-19T09:16:37.189Z"},"cpeApplicability":[{"nodes":[{"operator":"OR","negate":false,"cpeMatch":[{"vulnerable":true,"criteria":"cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*","versionStartIncluding":"2.6.12","versionEndExcluding":"6.12.112"},{"vulnerable":true,"criteria":"cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*","versionStartIncluding":"2.6.12","versionEndExcluding":"6.18.54"},{"vulnerable":true,"criteria":"cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*","versionStartIncluding":"2.6.12","versionEndExcluding":"7.2.8"},{"vulnerable":true,"criteria":"cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*","versionStartIncluding":"2.6.12","versionEndExcluding":"7.3"}]}]}],"x_generator":{"engine":"bippy-1.2.0"}}}}}