CVE-2026-64485 ALSA: compress: Fix task creation error unwind
A memory leak in the Linux kernel ALSA compress driver can lead to resource exhaustion and denial of service.
- 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-2026-64485?
CVE-2026-64485 is a high-severity vulnerability in Linux, published on 25 Jul 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: compress: Fix task creation error unwind
snd_compr_task_new() allocates the driver task before validating the returned DMA buffers and reserving file descriptors. When either of those later steps fails, the core frees its task wrapper and DMA-buffer references without calling the driver's task_free() callback. Any driver resources allocated by task_create() are therefore leaked.
The dual-fd allocation path also jumps to cleanup without storing the negative get_unused_fd_flags() result in retval. Since retval still contains the successful task_create() return value, TASK_CREATE can incorrectly report success although the task was discarded.
Preserve the fd allocation errors and call task_free() when failure occurs after a successful task_create() callback.
Weakness: CWE-401
Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-64485?
How do I fix CVE-2026-64485?
Apply the vendor's patch.
Is CVE-2026-64485 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-64485 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Sources
Also known as BELL-CVE-2026-64485, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-64485, GHSA-5v9v-xrmh-22c6, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2204-CVE-2026-64485, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-64485.