ALSA: line6: reject oversized playback packets
Key facts
- Attack vector
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- Privileges required
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- User interaction
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- Attack complexity
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- Impact type
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- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
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- Fix status
- Partial Red Hat: 6 without a fix
No CVSS vector from any source. Fix status from CNA and Red Hat.
Summary
In the Linux kernel's ALSA line6 driver, the playback path never compares the number of bytes written into each URB's slice of the output buffer against the size of that slice. On a device with a large IN wMaxPacketSize and a small OUT wMaxPacketSize, submit_audio_out_urb() can write past the slice and beyond the allocation, as the KASAN report shows for a 1024-byte write into a 256-byte kmalloc-256 object. usb_submit_urb() does not prevent this, because USB core accepts isochronous lengths up to three times the allocated slice. Red Hat rates it Moderate.
Written with Claude Haiku 5.5 from the sources below · 2026-11-06
Description from the CNA
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ALSA: line6: reject oversized playback packets Each playback URB is handed a slice of out.buffer that is exactly LINE6_ISO_PACKETS * max_packet_size_out bytes, sized from the OUT endpoint, but the number of bytes written into that slice is never compared against it. submit_audio_out_urb() takes the frame count from prev_fsize, which audio_in_callback() derived from the *IN* endpoint's received packet length, and rescales it with the playback frame size; when prev_fsize is still zero it synthesizes a length from the sample rate instead. On a device declaring a large IN wMaxPacketSize and a small OUT wMaxPacketSize, the resulting memcpy(), or the memset() when the playback stream is idle, runs past its slice and, as the reproducer below shows, beyond the allocation. usb_submit_urb() is not a backstop. max_packet_size_out comes from usb_maxpacket(), which returns only the low 11 bits of wMaxPacketSize, while USB core validates a high-speed isochronous length against that base scaled by usb_endpoint_maxp_mult(). A length of up to three times the allocated slice is therefore accepted, and even a rejected URB is only rejected after the write. Reject a packet that does not fit the slice the driver allocated for it. Clamping it instead would silently shorten the capture-derived rate feedback and desynchronize the two streams. BUG: KASAN: slab-out-of-bounds in submit_audio_out_urb (sound/usb/line6/playback.c:229) Write of size 1024 at addr ffff888100bbd400 by task kworker/1:2/5002 Workqueue: events line6_startup_work Call Trace: __asan_memcpy (mm/kasan/shadow.c:106) submit_audio_out_urb (sound/usb/line6/playback.c:229) line6_submit_audio_out_all_urbs (sound/usb/line6/playback.c:291) line6_stream_start (sound/usb/line6/pcm.c:194) line6_pcm_acquire (sound/usb/line6/pcm.c:337) line6_startup_work (sound/usb/line6/driver.c:728) process_one_work (kernel/workqueue.c:3396) worker_thread (kernel/workqueue.c:3479 kernel/workqueue.c:3560) kthread (kernel/kthread.c:436) ret_from_fork (arch/x86/kernel/process.c:158) ret_from_fork_asm (arch/x86/entry/entry_64.S:245) The buggy address belongs to the object at ffff888100bbd400 which belongs to the cache kmalloc-256 of size 256 The buggy address is located 0 bytes inside of allocated 256-byte region [ffff888100bbd400, ffff888100bbd500)
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
Not available: CISA has not published SSVC decision points for this record.
Affected products
Remediation
Install a kernel with the fix: 5.10.273, 5.15.224, 6.1.191, 6.6.160, 6.12.113, 6.18.56, 7.2.10 or 7.3, or a later release. The fix rejects a playback packet that does not fit the slice allocated for it instead of clamping it, so the capture-derived rate feedback stays intact. The sources list no fixed version for the affected Enterprise Linux and OpenShift Container Platform products.
Written with Claude Haiku 5.5 from the sources below · 2026-11-06
- Fix · CNA Linux (Linux) Fixed in 5.10.273, 5.15.224, 6.1.191, 6.6.160, 6.12.113, 6.18.56, 7.2.10, 7.3
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 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 |
| Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 5 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
Not affected: 1 product
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6
Timeline
- 2026-10-18 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-98836
- 2026-10-18 Alias added: GHSA-xfm3-rq9f-jfc7
- 2026-10-19 Fix available: Linux/[email protected] · CNA
- 2026-10-21 Fix available: Linux/[email protected], Linux/Linux@933d8ac23388eb208ea195231d682dce0bec86ca · CNA
- 2026-10-21 1 new reference · CNA
- 2026-10-24 Affected versions changed · Red Hat
- 2026-10-24 CVSS score added · Red Hat
- 2026-10-30 Fix available: Linux/Linux@48c76820dd8858ce60a6e42519141ebcf3dfeebf, Linux/[email protected], Linux/[email protected] +3 · CNA
- 2026-10-30 3 new references · CNA
- 2026-11-06 Affected versions changed · Red Hat
References
Other 8
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/48c76820dd8858ce60a6e42519141ebcf3dfeebf
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/7f31587e26e1d4735924bc324e7fa506d85de150
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/e3b68b1d92f279e203923dc8bf45c8860e5b5985
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/933d8ac23388eb208ea195231d682dce0bec86ca
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/a84371be89c39ccc46c7af8b9eb15c448df9265f
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/3f75da1e4ee699f6650d23d6897cf443b01856c7
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/b78748424f29f07d310484b2b36afdececa74389
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/61b0a5a114fa4552892da5c0ff2f42e63bf08c6b
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Sources
- CVE-2026-98836 · CVE Program
- CVE-2026-98836 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-xfm3-rq9f-jfc7 · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2026-98836 · Red Hat security data · CC BY 4.0
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