CVE-2026-98308

Kernel crash via premature PCM-open trace dereference

Published Oct 6, 2026 · Updated Oct 6, 2026

Null-pointer dereference in Linux ALSA HDA allows local users to crash the kernel when PCM hardware streams are exhausted. In azx_pcm_open(), trace_azx_pcm_open() accesses the assigned stream tag before checking whether azx_assign_device() returned NULL. Reachability requires access to an HDA PCM device, exhausted hardware streams, and execution of the PCM-open tracepoint; the documented flaw does not establish code execution.

CVSS severityUnavailable
Unscored
EPSS probability0.18%
Next 30 days · Oct 19, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Null-pointer dereference in Linux ALSA HDA allows local users to crash the kernel when PCM hardware streams are exhausted. In azx_pcm_open(), trace_azx_pcm_open() accesses the assigned stream tag before checking whether azx_assign_device() returned NULL. Reachability requires access to an HDA PCM device, exhausted hardware streams, and execution of the PCM-open tracepoint; the documented flaw does not establish code execution.

The record

CVE
CVE-2026-98308
Published
Oct 6, 2026
Updated
Oct 6, 2026
Vendor
The Linux Kernel Organization
Product
Linux
Classifications
T1499.004
Attack vector
local
Privileges
Unavailable

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Oct 6, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Oct 6, 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.

  1. Affected versionversion=184865085b88789fc8a355cc16ceff25f82f63ba <0a52ba6d3b268bb82f0ec4cb861bc68d252369c0
  2. Affected versionversion=184865085b88789fc8a355cc16ceff25f82f63ba <3c6ca6d9342f4a0be7c1413180e11023d13b5cde
  3. Affected versionversion=184865085b88789fc8a355cc16ceff25f82f63ba <3db8afba2d210b7d80cd5cc6b76d7f46daa9b47a
  4. Affected versionversion=184865085b88789fc8a355cc16ceff25f82f63ba <5a4c974dee03cc46eac43c82f33e34ec94f0b348
  5. Affected versionversion=184865085b88789fc8a355cc16ceff25f82f63ba <5c89e7965220e85d06ae4c58adb7d7bb6da2440c
  6. Affected versionversion=184865085b88789fc8a355cc16ceff25f82f63ba <8477643cb91c9e09ac1b11890eef421ae63e53f7
  7. Affected versionversion=184865085b88789fc8a355cc16ceff25f82f63ba <c9e6e5f38bf75276605f1952b22285f5f3abcaff
  8. Affected versionversion=184865085b88789fc8a355cc16ceff25f82f63ba <fba079ea22822248c82c3a999c88676d05b17bda
  9. Affected versionversion=4.2

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesUnavailable in this record.

What is affected?

The Linux Kernel Organization · Linuxversion=184865085b88789fc8a355cc16ceff25f82f63ba <0a52ba6d3b268bb82f0ec4cb861bc68d252369c0; version=184865085b88789fc8a355cc16ceff25f82f63ba <3c6ca6d9342f4a0be7c1413180e11023d13b5cde; version=184865085b88789fc8a355cc16ceff25f82f63ba <3db8afba2d210b7d80cd5cc6b76d7f46daa9b47a; version=184865085b88789fc8a355cc16ceff25f82f63ba <5a4c974dee03cc46eac43c82f33e34ec94f0b348; version=184865085b88789fc8a355cc16ceff25f82f63ba <5c89e7965220e85d06ae4c58adb7d7bb6da2440c; version=184865085b88789fc8a355cc16ceff25f82f63ba <8477643cb91c9e09ac1b11890eef421ae63e53f7; version=184865085b88789fc8a355cc16ceff25f82f63ba <c9e6e5f38bf75276605f1952b22285f5f3abcaff; version=184865085b88789fc8a355cc16ceff25f82f63ba <fba079ea22822248c82c3a999c88676d05b17bda; version=4.2

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.

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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
PrivilegesUnavailable
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

T1499.004Application or System Exploitation

Public exploit references

No public exploit references are available in this record.

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Technologies

Your stack

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