Kernel crash via premature legacy rawmidi dereference
Published Sep 25, 2026 · Updated Sep 25, 2026
NULL-pointer dereference in Linux 6.5 ALSA UMP handling allows physically proximate attackers to crash the kernel with a MIDI 2.0 device. snd_ump_parse_endpoint() marks the endpoint parsed before legacy_rmidi is attached, and an intervening UMP name packet makes ump_legacy_set_rawmidi_name() pass the NULL pointer to snprintf(). The path requires UMP, legacy rawmidi, and USB-audio support plus a MIDI 2.0 device or gadget; winning the short attachment race causes a fatal exception in interrupt context.
Summary
What happened
NULL-pointer dereference in Linux 6.5 ALSA UMP handling allows physically proximate attackers to crash the kernel with a MIDI 2.0 device. snd_ump_parse_endpoint() marks the endpoint parsed before legacy_rmidi is attached, and an intervening UMP name packet makes ump_legacy_set_rawmidi_name() pass the NULL pointer to snprintf(). The path requires UMP, legacy rawmidi, and USB-audio support plus a MIDI 2.0 device or gadget; winning the short attachment race causes a fatal exception in interrupt context.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2026-98086
- Published
- Sep 25, 2026
- Updated
- Sep 25, 2026
- Vendor
- The Linux Kernel Organization
- Product
- Linux
- Classifications
- T1499.004
- Attack vector
- physical
- Privileges
- unauthenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Sep 25, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Sep 25, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
Present is not the same as exploitable
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Is a vulnerable build present?
Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.
- Affected versionversion=37e0e14128e0685267dc5c037bf655421a6ce2ea <1c8e01792adf91879322f1ad752f1814de8b7e7d
- Affected versionversion=37e0e14128e0685267dc5c037bf655421a6ce2ea <228075f31b141395233218712242913125ace4e0
- Affected versionversion=37e0e14128e0685267dc5c037bf655421a6ce2ea <a4cef20cd473e0640fefd38094d4baac0ec76ae3
- Affected versionversion=37e0e14128e0685267dc5c037bf655421a6ce2ea <adeee7187694719890aaffdc14b7e89cfd736f1d
- Affected versionversion=6.5
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
No CVSS assessment is available in this record.
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.
Weakness, pattern, technique
Public exploit references
- QEMU dummy_hcd MIDI 2.0 race reproducerproof of concept · demonstrated
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Technologies
Your stack
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