Local Privilege Escalation Vulnerability in Linux Kernel ALSA PCM

CVE-2026-98116

What is CVE-2026-98116?

A vulnerability exists in the Linux kernel's ALSA PCM subsystem that could allow a local user to escalate privileges. Specifically, the issue arises during buffer reallocation where a check on the mmap_count is performed under a lock that is released prior to freeing the buffer. This creates a race condition that enables a concurrent mmap() operation to exploit the stale writable mapping of freed pages, potentially leading to unauthorized privilege escalation. Mitigation measures are necessary to synchronize access during buffer validation and remapping to prevent further exploitation of this vulnerability.

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