CVE-2026-23318 ALSA: usb-audio: Use correct version for UAC3 header validation
A malicious USB device can trigger out-of-bounds reads in the Linux kernel ALSA driver due to incorrect UAC3 header validation, potentially causing crashes or information disclosure.
- 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
What is CVE-2026-23318?
CVE-2026-23318 is a high-severity memory corruption vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 25 Mar 2026. 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: usb-audio: Use correct version for UAC3 header validation
The entry of the validators table for UAC3 AC header descriptor is defined with the wrong protocol version UAC_VERSION_2, while it should have been UAC_VERSION_3. This results in the validator never matching for actual UAC3 devices (protocol == UAC_VERSION_3), causing their header descriptors to bypass validation entirely. A malicious USB device presenting a truncated UAC3 header could exploit this to cause out-of-bounds reads when the driver later accesses unvalidated descriptor fields.
The bug was introduced in the same commit as the recently fixed UAC3 feature unit sub-type typo, and appears to be from the same copy-paste error when the UAC3 section was created from the UAC2 section.
Weakness: CWE-125
Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-23318?
It affects 1 product.
Products include Linux kernel.
How do I fix CVE-2026-23318?
Apply the vendor's patch.
Upgrade to the fixed version. Memory-safe languages, compiler hardening and fuzzing prevent most new cases. More about Memory corruption.
Is CVE-2026-23318 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-23318 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Other vulnerabilities in Linux kernel
Sources
Also known as AZL-80595, BELL-CVE-2026-23318, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-23318, GHSA-x63j-v2j2-m8fv, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-11-CVE-2026-23318, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-12-CVE-2026-23318 and 4 more.