Junglewise Threat Intelligence

CVE-2026-53192: Linux Kernel use-after-free in ALSA snd_timer_user_params

CVE-2026-53192 · Severity: info · CVSS 0 · Published 2026-06-25

Vendors: Linux.

Executive brief

A security vulnerability was identified in the Linux kernel's sound subsystem (ALSA). A local attacker could potentially exploit a race condition during timer operations to cause a system crash or execute unauthorized code. This issue occurs when the system attempts to free memory that is still being accessed by other active tasks.

Technical details

A use-after-free (UAF) vulnerability exists in the Linux kernel ALSA (Advanced Linux Sound Architecture) timer implementation within sound/core/timer.c. The root cause is a lack of mutex protection in the SNDRV_TIMER_IOCTL_PARAMS ioctl handler, specifically within the snd_timer_user_params() function. This allows a race condition where a timer object can be freed via snd_timer_free() while concurrent ioctl tasks still hold references to the timer instance. An attacker with local access could exploit this race to trigger a use-after-free condition. The issue has been resolved by adding register_mutex protection to the affected code path.

Affected products

  • Linux Linux 5.10.259, 5.15.161, 6.1.94, 6.6.34, 6.9.5, 6.10-rc3

Timeline

  • 2026-06-06: patched: Initial patch authored by Takashi Iwai
  • 2026-06-25: advisory: CVE-2026-53192 published by NVD

References