CVE-2026-98264 ALSA: virtio: reset device before deleting virtqueues
A use-after-free vulnerability in the Linux kernel ALSA virtio driver allows attackers to cause denial of service or execute code by triggering device removal before reset.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- Not needed
- Attackable
- Local or same network only
- Victim action needed
- Not needed
- Fix
- Available
What is CVE-2026-98264?
CVE-2026-98264 is an use after free vulnerability in Linux, published on 6 Oct 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: virtio: reset device before deleting virtqueues
virtsnd_remove() and virtsnd_freeze() delete the virtqueues before resetting the device. del_vqs() frees the vring backing, but does not provide a generic device quiesce operation. In particular, modern virtio-pci keeps enabled queues active until the device is reset.
Reset the device before deleting the virtqueues so it can no longer access the vring memory when that memory is released. This also covers probe failures after DRIVER_OK, which unwind through virtsnd_remove().
Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-98264?
How do I fix CVE-2026-98264?
Apply the vendor's patch.
Upgrade to the fixed version. These bugs are found with fuzzing and sanitisers and avoided by memory-safe languages. More about Use after free.
Is CVE-2026-98264 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-98264 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Sources
Also known as AZL-106089, BELL-CVE-2026-98264, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-98264, GHSA-4px9-x8r2-v4gj, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-98264.