CVE-2026-90198Hinoki check available

Kernel memory faults via sound-card teardown race

Published Sep 17, 2026 · Updated Sep 17, 2026

Use-after-free in Linux ALSA allows local users to trigger a kernel memory fault by closing a sound-device file during unbinding. In sound/core/init.c, snd_card_do_free() signals completion before reading card->managed, allowing the awakened unbind thread to free the containing structure first. Triggering requires an open descriptor for a devres-managed sound card and concurrent device unbinding; the documented result is an invalid one-byte kernel read, not demonstrated privilege escalation.

CVSS severity4.7
Medium
EPSS probability0.22%
Next 30 days · Oct 19, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkAvailable
Coverage for this vulnerability

See if you're affected

Explore vulnerability checks for your environment with Hinoki.

Get started

Summary

What happened

Use-after-free in Linux ALSA allows local users to trigger a kernel memory fault by closing a sound-device file during unbinding. In sound/core/init.c, snd_card_do_free() signals completion before reading card->managed, allowing the awakened unbind thread to free the containing structure first. Triggering requires an open descriptor for a devres-managed sound card and concurrent device unbinding; the documented result is an invalid one-byte kernel read, not demonstrated privilege escalation.

The record

CVE
CVE-2026-90198
Published
Sep 17, 2026
Updated
Sep 17, 2026
Vendor
The Linux Kernel Organization
Product
Linux
Classifications
T1499.004
Attack vector
local
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Sep 17, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Sep 17, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

Compare your product and version with the public record. A matching version still requires validation against your environment.

Is a vulnerable build present?

Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.

  1. Affected versionversion=5.15
  2. Affected versionversion=e8ad415b7a55cb9a9fbfc04696518d5ea0b609b3 <03c5dabc8f16bc212a5b26d2425c03a55e55a86d
  3. Affected versionversion=e8ad415b7a55cb9a9fbfc04696518d5ea0b609b3 <09b27dd01b98480334c10bf6fb8d41d5fb063a4b
  4. Affected versionversion=e8ad415b7a55cb9a9fbfc04696518d5ea0b609b3 <5ae1a690c522fea2900ff56c8c2ace7b059f5e04
  5. Affected versionversion=e8ad415b7a55cb9a9fbfc04696518d5ea0b609b3 <6da22efb5cf490b06ffbca32b10fc8af7654fee0
  6. Affected versionversion=e8ad415b7a55cb9a9fbfc04696518d5ea0b609b3 <7d9b5e86775fa97a487da08b9aa76e1674bf8868
  7. Affected versionversion=e8ad415b7a55cb9a9fbfc04696518d5ea0b609b3 <a561012868ae37c28f61fdf658bf6f251bc0e8e8
  8. Affected versionversion=e8ad415b7a55cb9a9fbfc04696518d5ea0b609b3 <d3d67f680dbc23a5e5e3d3ecfdbf700465809877

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

The Linux Kernel Organization · Linuxversion=5.15; version=e8ad415b7a55cb9a9fbfc04696518d5ea0b609b3 <03c5dabc8f16bc212a5b26d2425c03a55e55a86d; version=e8ad415b7a55cb9a9fbfc04696518d5ea0b609b3 <09b27dd01b98480334c10bf6fb8d41d5fb063a4b; version=e8ad415b7a55cb9a9fbfc04696518d5ea0b609b3 <5ae1a690c522fea2900ff56c8c2ace7b059f5e04; version=e8ad415b7a55cb9a9fbfc04696518d5ea0b609b3 <6da22efb5cf490b06ffbca32b10fc8af7654fee0; version=e8ad415b7a55cb9a9fbfc04696518d5ea0b609b3 <7d9b5e86775fa97a487da08b9aa76e1674bf8868; version=e8ad415b7a55cb9a9fbfc04696518d5ea0b609b3 <a561012868ae37c28f61fdf658bf6f251bc0e8e8; version=e8ad415b7a55cb9a9fbfc04696518d5ea0b609b3 <d3d67f680dbc23a5e5e3d3ecfdbf700465809877

Published CVSS scores

4.7Amazon LinuxCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.

Attacks

What attackers are doing with it

Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.

Activity data is delayed. The latest report is Sep 28, 2026.

Daily unique IPsNo honeypot observations are available for this CVE in the selected window.

No observations available

Sep 22, 2026Sep 28, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 28, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectorlocal
Privilegesauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

T1499.004Application or System Exploitation

Public exploit references

No public exploit references are available in this record.

Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.

Technologies

Your stack

See the directory against your own environment.

Your stack

Check the software in your environment

Get started to see how Hinoki identifies affected software and validates exploitability in your environment.

Get started