CVE-2026-31701 | ALSA: caiaq: take a reference on the USB device in create_card()

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ALSA: caiaq: take a reference on the USB device in create_card() The caiaq driver stores a pointer to the parent USB device in cdev->chip.dev but never takes a reference on it. The card's private_free callback, snd_usb_caiaq_card_free(), can run asynchronously via snd_card_free_when_closed() after the USB device has already been disconnected and freed, so any access to cdev->chip.dev in that path dereferences a freed usb_device. On top of the refcounting issue, the current card_free implementation calls usb_reset_device(cdev->chip.dev). A reset in a free callback is inappropriate: the device is going away, the call takes the device lock in a teardown context, and the reset races with the disconnect path that the callback is already cleaning up after. Take a reference on the USB device in create_card() with usb_get_dev(), drop it with usb_put_dev() in the free callback, and remove the usb_reset_device() call.

Published: 2026-05-01 Last update: 2026-06-17 Assigner: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67 Source: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67

Conclusion & alert: CVE-2026-31701 is rated Low Risk (22.8/100): CVSS Medium severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.12%). Mandatory action: Monitor for updates and reassess as exploit intelligence or EPSS changes.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2026-31701

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2026-06-15 0.02% 0.12% +0.10%
2 2026-05-02 0.02%

Full EPSS history (2 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2026-31701

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
5.5 3.1 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:L)
They already need access on the box, or another person has to do something wrong; it’s not a remote drive-by.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:L)
A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:N)
Doesn’t really leak secrets in a meaningful way.
Integrity (I:N)
Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
1.8 3.6 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2026-31701

GitHub Security Advisory for CVE-2026-31701

GHSA-pf8h-4wmf-9gv4 · Severity: medium — In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ALSA: caiaq: take a...

OS Trackers for CVE-2026-31701

vendor priority summary link
debian not yet assigned CVE-2026-31701 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 1 source packages (linux), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 3, open 2. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2026-31701
redhat medium https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-31701
suse medium CVE-2026-31701 severity moderate: SUSE including 19 source package names (cluster-md-kmp-default, dlm-kmp-default, …), 121 product×package rows across 28 product lines (SUSE Linux Enterprise High Availability Extension 15 SP7, SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP4-LTSS, … (28 product lines)): Known Not Affected 121. https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-31701/
ubuntu medium CVE-2026-31701 medium priority: Ubuntu including 161 source packages (linux, linux-allwinner-5.19, …), 1449 status rows across 9 suites (bionic, focal, jammy, noble, questing, resolute, trusty, upstream, xenial): DNE 1048, ignored 169, needed 121, released 83, not-affected 23, needs-triage 4, pending 1. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2026-31701

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2026-31701

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
linux linux_kernel >= 6.13, < 6.18.25 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 6.19, < 7.0.2 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 6.13 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.13:-:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 7.1 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:7.1:rc1:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 7.1 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:7.1:rc2:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2026-31701

cvelogic Threat Intelligence