# CVE-2023-52736: ALSA: hda: Do not unset preset when cleaning up codec

> A null pointer dereference in the Linux kernel ALSA HDA driver can cause a system crash during module reload scenarios.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.5 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 21 May 2024
- **Updated:** 11 May 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2023-52736, DEBIAN-CVE-2023-52736, GHSA-gpvh-jcjq-x69v, UBUNTU-CVE-2023-52736

## What is CVE-2023-52736?

CVE-2023-52736 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 21 May 2024. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

ALSA: hda: Do not unset preset when cleaning up codec

Several functions that take part in codec's initialization and removal
are re-used by ASoC codec drivers implementations. Drivers mimic the
behavior of hda_codec_driver_probe/remove() found in
sound/pci/hda/hda_bind.c with their component->probe/remove() instead.

One of the reasons for that is the expectation of
snd_hda_codec_device_new() to receive a valid pointer to an instance of
struct snd_card. This expectation can be met only once sound card
components probing commences.

As ASoC sound card may be unbound without codec device being actually
removed from the system, unsetting ->preset in
snd_hda_codec_cleanup_for_unbind() interferes with module unload -> load
scenario causing null-ptr-deref. Preset is assigned only once, during
device/driver matching whereas ASoC codec driver's module reloading may
occur several times throughout the lifetime of an audio stack.

Weakness: CWE-476 (NULL Pointer Dereference)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-52736?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2023-52736?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2023-52736 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-52736 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Linux kernel

- [CVE-2026-53266](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-53266/): Linux Kernel Out-of-Bounds Write (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2013-6282](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-6282/): Linux Kernel Improper Input Validation (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2022-0185](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-0185/): Linux Kernel Heap-Based Buffer Overflow (high 8.4, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2013-2094](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-2094/): Linux Kernel Privilege Escalation (high 8.4, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2026-53362](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-53362/): Linux Kernel Unspecified (high 7.8, exploited in the wild)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2023-52736 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2023-52736 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 21 May 2024. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-52736 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Linux kernel. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-52736/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-52736/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-52736
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-52736
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-52736

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-52736/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.