GHSA-PWF2-CF6J-P6WX
Vulnerability from github – Published: 2026-09-25 12:31 – Updated: 2026-09-25 15:31In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
ALSA: pcm: Serialize PCM mmap with buffer reallocation to fix page UAF
snd_pcm_hw_params() and snd_pcm_hw_free() guard buffer reallocation with an mmap_count check performed under the PCM stream lock, but the lock is released long before the buffer is actually freed: snd_pcm_sync_stop(), constraint refinement and do_free_pages() all happen in between. snd_pcm_mmap_data(), on the other hand, takes no lock at all: it validates against the old buffer's state and dma_bytes, remaps its pages into the VMA, and only then increments mmap_count.
A concurrent mmap() can therefore slip in between the check and the free. remap_pfn_range() installs writable PTEs for the old buffer's pages without taking page references, and the subsequent do_free_pages() returns those pages to the page allocator while the VMA still maps them. This leaves a stale, writable mapping of freed pages: a page-level use-after-free that can be leveraged for local privilege escalation.
Make snd_pcm_mmap_data() participate in the buffer-access scheme introduced for hw_params/hw_free: acquire runtime->buffer_accessing before validating and remapping, and release it afterwards. Buffer reallocation already fails with -EBUSY while accessors are active, and the mmap side now fails with -EBUSY while a reallocation is in progress, so the validate/remap sequence and the check/free sequence can no longer interleave.
A reproducer that turns this race into a stale writable mapping of the freed DMA buffer pages is available on request.
{
"affected": [],
"aliases": [
"CVE-2026-98116"
],
"database_specific": {
"cwe_ids": [],
"github_reviewed": false,
"github_reviewed_at": null,
"nvd_published_at": "2026-09-25T11:17:42Z",
"severity": "HIGH"
},
"details": "In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\nALSA: pcm: Serialize PCM mmap with buffer reallocation to fix page UAF\n\nsnd_pcm_hw_params() and snd_pcm_hw_free() guard buffer reallocation\nwith an mmap_count check performed under the PCM stream lock, but the\nlock is released long before the buffer is actually freed:\nsnd_pcm_sync_stop(), constraint refinement and do_free_pages() all\nhappen in between. snd_pcm_mmap_data(), on the other hand, takes no\nlock at all: it validates against the old buffer\u0027s state and\ndma_bytes, remaps its pages into the VMA, and only then increments\nmmap_count.\n\nA concurrent mmap() can therefore slip in between the check and the\nfree. remap_pfn_range() installs writable PTEs for the old buffer\u0027s\npages without taking page references, and the subsequent\ndo_free_pages() returns those pages to the page allocator while the\nVMA still maps them. This leaves a stale, writable mapping of freed\npages: a page-level use-after-free that can be leveraged for local\nprivilege escalation.\n\nMake snd_pcm_mmap_data() participate in the buffer-access scheme\nintroduced for hw_params/hw_free: acquire runtime-\u003ebuffer_accessing\nbefore validating and remapping, and release it afterwards. Buffer\nreallocation already fails with -EBUSY while accessors are active,\nand the mmap side now fails with -EBUSY while a reallocation is in\nprogress, so the validate/remap sequence and the check/free sequence\ncan no longer interleave.\n\nA reproducer that turns this race into a stale writable mapping of\nthe freed DMA buffer pages is available on request.",
"id": "GHSA-pwf2-cf6j-p6wx",
"modified": "2026-09-25T15:31:45Z",
"published": "2026-09-25T12:31:37Z",
"references": [
{
"type": "ADVISORY",
"url": "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-98116"
},
{
"type": "WEB",
"url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/8c1882dfee8f404d118020664b73eb4592172226"
},
{
"type": "WEB",
"url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/9b110a9dcecc59516c77cb3c0caf1f492f75df2d"
},
{
"type": "WEB",
"url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/cbc7ec97601d09b74e05e44470fa6b0bcdabf3f5"
},
{
"type": "WEB",
"url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/fd137bf8149bc6460f9b7b1fc292025da04cb9ee"
}
],
"schema_version": "1.4.0",
"severity": [
{
"score": "CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H",
"type": "CVSS_V3"
}
]
}
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