# CVE-2025-40097: ALSA: hda: Fix missing pointer check in hda_component_manager_init function

> A missing pointer check in the Linux kernel ALSA HDA driver can cause a null pointer dereference, leading to a system crash.

- **Severity:** Not scored
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 30 Oct 2025
- **Updated:** 3 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2025-40097, DEBIAN-CVE-2025-40097, GHSA-9cqx-9fcv-mjx8, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-12-CVE-2025-40097, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-13-CVE-2025-40097, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2204-CVE-2025-40097, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2404-CVE-2025-40097, UBUNTU-CVE-2025-40097

## What is CVE-2025-40097?

CVE-2025-40097 is a vulnerability in Linux, published on 30 Oct 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: hda: Fix missing pointer check in hda_component_manager_init function

The __component_match_add function may assign the 'matchptr' pointer
the value ERR_PTR(-ENOMEM), which will subsequently be dereferenced.

The call stack leading to the error looks like this:

hda_component_manager_init
|-> component_match_add
    |-> component_match_add_release
        |-> __component_match_add ( ... ,**matchptr, ... )
            |-> *matchptr = ERR_PTR(-ENOMEM);       // assign
|-> component_master_add_with_match( ...  match)
    |-> component_match_realloc(match, match->num); // dereference

Add IS_ERR() check to prevent the crash.

Found by Linux Verification Center (linuxtesting.org) with SVACE.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2025-40097?


## How do I fix CVE-2025-40097?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2025-40097 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2025-40097 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2025-40097 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2025-40097 is a vulnerability in Linux, published on 30 Oct 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-2025-40097 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-2025-40097/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-40097/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2025-40097
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-40097
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2025-40097

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-40097/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.