# CVE-2023-54072: ALSA: pcm: Fix potential data race at PCM memory allocation helpers

> A race condition in Linux kernel ALSA PCM memory allocation allows local users to exceed memory limits, potentially causing denial of service.

- **Severity:** Not scored
- **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:** 24 Dec 2025
- **Updated:** 11 May 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2023-54072, DEBIAN-CVE-2023-54072, GHSA-xx23-73hr-9p64, UBUNTU-CVE-2023-54072

## What is CVE-2023-54072?

CVE-2023-54072 is a vulnerability in Linux, published on 24 Dec 2025. 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: pcm: Fix potential data race at PCM memory allocation helpers

The PCM memory allocation helpers have a sanity check against too many
buffer allocations.  However, the check is performed without a proper
lock and the allocation isn't serialized; this allows user to allocate
more memories than predefined max size.

Practically seen, this isn't really a big problem, as it's more or
less some "soft limit" as a sanity check, and it's not possible to
allocate unlimitedly.  But it's still better to address this for more
consistent behavior.

The patch covers the size check in do_alloc_pages() with the
card->memory_mutex, and increases the allocated size there for
preventing the further overflow.  When the actual allocation fails,
the size is decreased accordingly.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-54072?


## How do I fix CVE-2023-54072?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2023-54072 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-54072 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2023-54072 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2023-54072 is a vulnerability in Linux, published on 24 Dec 2025. 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-2023-54072 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Linux. 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-2023-54072/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-54072/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-54072
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-54072
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-54072

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-54072/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.