CVE-2026-43437 | ALSA: pcm: fix use-after-free on linked stream runtime in snd_pcm_drain()

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ALSA: pcm: fix use-after-free on linked stream runtime in snd_pcm_drain() In the drain loop, the local variable 'runtime' is reassigned to a linked stream's runtime (runtime = s->runtime at line 2157). After releasing the stream lock at line 2169, the code accesses runtime->no_period_wakeup, runtime->rate, and runtime->buffer_size (lines 2170-2178) — all referencing the linked stream's runtime without any lock or refcount protecting its lifetime. A concurrent close() on the linked stream's fd triggers snd_pcm_release_substream() → snd_pcm_drop() → pcm_release_private() → snd_pcm_unlink() → snd_pcm_detach_substream() → kfree(runtime). No synchronization prevents kfree(runtime) from completing while the drain path dereferences the stale pointer. Fix by caching the needed runtime fields (no_period_wakeup, rate, buffer_size) into local variables while still holding the stream lock, and using the cached values after the lock is released.

Published: 2026-05-08 Last update: 2026-05-21 Assigner: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67 Source: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
NVD Status：Analyzed，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2026-43437 is rated Low Risk (32.2/100): CVSS High severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.13%). 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-2026-43437

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% 0.13% +0.10%
2 2026-05-09 — 0.02% —

Full EPSS history (2 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2026-43437

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
7.8 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/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:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
 1.8 5.9 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2026-43437

GitHub Security Advisory for CVE-2026-43437

GHSA-5cw4-rfp6-xjfx · Severity: high — In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ALSA: pcm: fix use-after...

OS Trackers for CVE-2026-43437

vendor priority summary link
debian not yet assigned CVE-2026-43437 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 1 source packages (linux), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 5. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2026-43437
redhat medium — https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-43437
suse high CVE-2026-43437 severity important: SUSE including 16 source package names (cluster-md-kmp-default, dlm-kmp-default, …), 53 product×package rows across 13 product lines (SUSE Linux Enterprise High Availability Extension 15 SP7, SUSE Linux Enterprise Live Patching 15 SP7, … (13 product lines)): Known Not Affected 53. https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-43437/
ubuntu medium CVE-2026-43437 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 173, needed 130, released 83, not-affected 10, needs-triage 5. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2026-43437

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2026-43437

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
linux linux_kernel >= 3.0, < 5.10.253 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 5.11, < 6.1.167 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 6.2, < 6.6.130 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 6.7, < 6.12.78 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 6.13, < 6.18.19 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 6.19, < 6.19.9 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 7.0 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:7.0:rc1:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 7.0 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:7.0:rc2:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 7.0 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:7.0:rc3:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2026-43437

cvelogic Threat Intelligence