ALSA: caiaq: fix stack out-of-bounds read in init_card
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Local
- Privileges required
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Impact type
- —
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- High · None · High
- Fix status
- Partial Red Hat: 5 without a fix
Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · NVD. Fix status from CNA and Red Hat.
Summary
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ALSA: caiaq: fix stack out-of-bounds read in init_card The loop creates a whitespace-stripped copy of the card shortname where `len < sizeof(card->id)` is used for the bounds check. Since sizeof(card->id) is 16 and the local id buffer is also 16 bytes, writing 16 non-space characters fills the entire buffer, overwriting the terminating nullbyte. When this non-null-terminated string is later passed to snd_card_set_id() -> copy_valid_id_string(), the function scans forward with `while (*nid && ...)` and reads past the end of the stack buffer, reading the contents of the stack. A USB device with a product name containing many non-ASCII, non-space characters (e.g. multibyte UTF-8) will reliably trigger this as follows: BUG: KASAN: stack-out-of-bounds in copy_valid_id_string sound/core/init.c:696 [inline] BUG: KASAN: stack-out-of-bounds in snd_card_set_id_no_lock+0x698/0x74c sound/core/init.c:718 The off-by-one has been present since commit bafeee5b1f8d ("ALSA: snd_usb_caiaq: give better shortname") from June 2009 (v2.6.31-rc1), which first introduced this whitespace-stripping loop. The original code never accounted for the null terminator when bounding the copy. Fix this by changing the loop bound to `sizeof(card->id) - 1`, ensuring at least one byte remains as the null terminator.
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
CISA ADP · SSVC 2.0.3
- Exploitation
- None
- Automatable
- No
- Technical impact
- Partial
The decision (Track, Attend, Act) also depends on your mission and well-being impact; see CISA's SSVC guide.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Linux | Linux | 2.6.31 and later | 5.10.253, 5.15.203, 6.1.168, 6.6.134, 6.12.81, 6.18.22, 6.19.12, 7.0 | Patch available | CNA |
- Linux VendorLinux Affected 2.6.31 and later Fixed in 5.10.253, 5.15.203, 6.1.168, 6.6.134, 6.12.81, 6.18.22, 6.19.12, 7.0 Patch available CNA
CPE configurations NVD · 7
| CPE | Versions | Role | Vendor |
|---|---|---|---|
| cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | 2.6.31 to before 5.10.253; 5.11 to before 5.15.203; 5.16 to before 6.1.168; 6.2 to before 6.6.134; 6.7 to before 6.12.81; 6.13 to before 6.18.22; 6.19 to before 6.19.12 | Vulnerable | Linux |
| cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:7.0:rc1:*:*:*:*:*:* | 7.0 rc1 | Vulnerable | Linux |
| cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:7.0:rc2:*:*:*:*:*:* | 7.0 rc2 | Vulnerable | Linux |
| cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:7.0:rc3:*:*:*:*:*:* | 7.0 rc3 | Vulnerable | Linux |
| cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:7.0:rc4:*:*:*:*:*:* | 7.0 rc4 | Vulnerable | Linux |
| cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:7.0:rc5:*:*:*:*:*:* | 7.0 rc5 | Vulnerable | Linux |
| cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:7.0:rc6:*:*:*:*:*:* | 7.0 rc6 | Vulnerable | Linux |
- cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 2.6.31 to before 5.10.253; 5.11 to before 5.15.203; 5.16 to before 6.1.168; 6.2 to before 6.6.134; 6.7 to before 6.12.81; 6.13 to before 6.18.22; 6.19 to before 6.19.12 Vulnerable ·Linux
- cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:7.0:rc1:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 7.0 rc1 Vulnerable ·Linux
- cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:7.0:rc2:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 7.0 rc2 Vulnerable ·Linux
- cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:7.0:rc3:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 7.0 rc3 Vulnerable ·Linux
- cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:7.0:rc4:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 7.0 rc4 Vulnerable ·Linux
- cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:7.0:rc5:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 7.0 rc5 Vulnerable ·Linux
- cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:7.0:rc6:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 7.0 rc6 Vulnerable ·Linux
Remediation
- Fix · CNA Linux (Linux) Fixed in 5.10.253, 5.15.203, 6.1.168, 6.6.134, 6.12.81, 6.18.22, 6.19.12, 7.0
Vendor assessments
Red Hat
Red Hat rating: Moderate. Red Hat's page for this CVE →
| Product | Status | Plan or fix |
|---|---|---|
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 | Affected | No fix planned: Out of support scope |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-31778
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-87f3-mhhq-wfvx
- 2026-11-06 CISA SSVC decision points changed
References
Patch 8
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/02d9c5b0b5553a391448b6d655262bd829f90234
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/3f7f8bae0d52cbd07ab04b76b6aac89ef98ee9f6
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/66194c2575a4f567577ae70b1d7561163ce791a6
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/a82c1bce2d1299dd3c686a8fe48cf75b79a403c7
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/3178b62e2e31bab39f63d4c8e54bf4ee0a425627
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/3afa2e67f3523a980a2f90fd63c22322ac2b9ce0
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/7594a6464873d90fd229e5b94cdd3b92c9feabed
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/45424e871abf2a152e247a9cff78359f18dd95c0
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- TI-2021-05514 Heap Out-Of-Bounds Write in Netfilter IP6T_SO_SET_REPLACE KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.3
Sources
- CVE-2026-31778 · CVE Program
- CVE-2026-31778 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-87f3-mhhq-wfvx · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2026-31778 · Red Hat security data · CC BY 4.0
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