# CVE-2026-74291: ASoC: topology: Check PCM and DAI name strings before use

> A local attacker with high privileges can cause an out-of-bounds read in the Linux kernel ASoC topology parser by providing malformed name strings, potentially leaking memory or crashing the system.

- **Severity:** Not scored
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** An administrator
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 15 Aug 2026
- **Updated:** 3 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** AZL-96384, BELL-CVE-2026-74291, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-74291, GHSA-wrjf-2g4j-cfrg, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-74291

## What is CVE-2026-74291?

CVE-2026-74291 is a 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:

ASoC: topology: Check PCM and DAI name strings before use

Topology objects store several PCM and DAI names in fixed-size UAPI
arrays. Other topology parser paths validate these fields with bounded
strnlen() checks before using them as C strings, but the PCM and DAI
paths still pass some fixed-size arrays directly to strlen(),
devm_kstrdup(), DAI lookup, and diagnostic prints.

A malformed topology blob with a non-NUL-terminated PCM, DAI, or stream
capability name can therefore make the parser read past the end of the
fixed-size field.

Reject unterminated PCM and DAI name fields before consuming them as C
strings.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-74291?


## How do I fix CVE-2026-74291?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-74291 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-74291 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-74291 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-74291 is a 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-2026-74291 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-2026-74291/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-74291/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-74291
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-74291
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-74291

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-74291/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.