# CVE-2026-90198: ALSA: core: Fix use-after-free in snd_card_do_free()

> A local attacker with an open sound card file descriptor can trigger a use-after-free in the Linux kernel ALSA subsystem, potentially leading to privilege escalation or code execution.

- **Severity:** Not scored
- **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:** 17 Sep 2026
- **Updated:** 19 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** AZL-102738, BELL-CVE-2026-90198, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-90198, GHSA-89m9-vw2h-xgxr, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-90198

## What is CVE-2026-90198?

CVE-2026-90198 is an use after free vulnerability in Linux, published on 17 Sep 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: core: Fix use-after-free in snd_card_do_free()

A use-after-free was detected in snd_card_do_free() when a sound card
managed by devres is unbound while a user-space application still holds an
open file descriptor.

For managed cards, the memory is allocated using devres_alloc(), and its
release function is set to __snd_card_release(), which calls
snd_card_free(). When the device is unbound, the unbind thread calls
snd_card_free(), which drops a reference to the card's device. If the user
thread still has an open file descriptor, the reference count does not
reach zero, and the unbind thread blocks on wait_for_completion(&released).

When the user thread closes the file descriptor, it drops the final
reference, invoking the device release callback release_card_device(),
which calls snd_card_do_free(). snd_card_do_free() performs cleanup and
calls complete(card->release_completion). This wakes up the unbind thread,
which returns from snd_card_free() and __snd_card_release(). The devres
core then immediately frees the memory block containing the snd_card
structure.

Meanwhile, the user thread continues execution in snd_card_do_free() and
evaluates `if (!card->managed)`. It reads the `managed` boolean from the
snd_card structure that was just freed by the unbind thread, triggering a
KASAN use-after-free.

Fix this by caching the value of card->managed in a local variable before
calling complete(). This ensures that the card pointer is not dereferenced
after the unbind thread has been woken up and potentially freed the card.

BUG: KASAN: use-after-free in snd_card_do_free sound/core/init.c:604
[inline]
BUG: KASAN: use-after-free in release_card_device+0x1ab/0x1b0
sound/core/init.c:153
Read of size 1 at addr ffff8881912ec909 by task syz-executor130/5857

Call Trace:
 <TASK>
 dump_stack_lvl+0xe8/0x150 lib/dump_stack.c:120
 print_address_description+0x55/0x1e0 mm/kasan/report.c:378
 print_report+0x58/0x70 mm/kasan/report.c:482
 kasan_report+0x117/0x150 mm/kasan/report.c:595
 snd_card_do_free sound/core/init.c:604 [inline]
 release_card_device+0x1ab/0x1b0 sound/core/init.c:153
 device_release+0xc4/0x1f0 drivers/base/core.c:-1
 kobject_cleanup lib/kobject.c:689 [inline]
 kobject_release lib/kobject.c:720 [inline]
 kref_put include/linux/kref.h:65 [inline]
 kobject_put+0x222/0x550 lib/kobject.c:737
 snd_card_file_remove+0x331/0x390 sound/core/init.c:1125
 snd_pcm_release+0x12c/0x160 sound/core/pcm_native.c:2986
 __fput+0x418/0xa50 fs/file_table.c:512
 fput_close_sync+0x11f/0x240 fs/file_table.c:617
 __do_sys_close fs/open.c:1511 [inline]
 __se_sys_close fs/open.c:1496 [inline]
 __x64_sys_close+0x7e/0x110 fs/open.c:1496
 do_syscall_x64 arch/x86/entry/syscall_64.c:63 [inline]
 do_syscall_64+0x174/0x580 arch/x86/entry/syscall_64.c:94
 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x77/0x7f
 </TASK>

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-90198?


## How do I fix CVE-2026-90198?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-90198 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-90198 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-90198 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-90198 is an use after free vulnerability in Linux, published on 17 Sep 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-2026-90198 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-2026-90198/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-90198/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-90198
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-90198
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-90198

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-90198/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.