# CVE-2026-72488: soundwire: fix bug in sdw_add_element_group_count found by syzkaller

> An out-of-bounds memory access in the Linux kernel's soundwire subsystem allows attackers to cause denial of service or potentially execute code.

- **Severity:** High 7.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/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:** 15 Aug 2026
- **Updated:** 21 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2026-72488, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-72488, GHSA-m46v-696m-pmpf, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-72488

## What is CVE-2026-72488?

CVE-2026-72488 is a high-severity memory corruption vulnerability in Linux, published on 15 Aug 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:

soundwire: fix bug in sdw_add_element_group_count found by syzkaller

The original implementation caused an out-of-bounds memory access
in the sdw_add_element_group_count for-loop when i == num.

for (i = 0; i <= num; i++) {
    if (rate == group->rates[i] && lane == group->lanes[i])
        ...

To fix this error, the function now checks for existing rate/lane
entries in the group(a function parameter) using a for-loop before
adding them.

No functional changes apart from this fix.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-72488?


## How do I fix CVE-2026-72488?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-72488 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-72488 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-72488 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-72488 is a high-severity memory corruption vulnerability in Linux, published on 15 Aug 2026. 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-2026-72488 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-2026-72488/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-72488/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-72488
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-72488
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-72488

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-72488/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.