HIGH Introduced in 2.6.12
sound TriggerStart Race
CVE-2026-89979
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
KernelScan AI7.0HIGH
01Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ALSA: pcm: Fix race between non-atomic ops and trigger-start We protect the races of the concurrent state transitions between atomic PCM ops, but the checks between the non-atomic ops (hw_params, hw_free and prepare) and the atomic ops aren't perfect; there is a check of the conflicting PCM state at the beginning of hw_params & co, but the atomic PCM ops can be still issued during the non-atomic PCM operations. An example such scenario is that a thread A re-issues the PREPARE or HW_PARAMS for the already prepared stream, while another thread B triggers the PCM start in the middle of the prepare operation. Although this usually doesn't lead to much serious issues, it can give some inconsistency as reported by syzkaller (such as ODEBUG warning). There are various atomic PCM ops, and basically the only problem is the PCM start as it operates from the PREPARED state. Other trigger commands (stop, etc) are for the running or the other special state, hence they are filtered as pre-condition. This patch is for preventing the PCM trigger-start during the non- atomic operations in order to address the problems above. Fortunately, the hw_params, hw_free and prepare operations call snd_pcm_buffer_access_lock(), and this can be used for checking the concurrent operations at the PCM trigger -- which sets the runtime->buffer_accessing to a negative (if possible), so the PCM trigger just needs to check the runtime->buffer_accessing value; if it's negative, it means the concurrent non-atomic PCM ops is running.
02KernelScan AI Analysis
Risk summary
A local user with access to ALSA PCM devices can exploit a race condition between concurrent PCM state transitions, leading to kernel state inconsistency and potential denial of service. The issue requires precise timing between two threads issuing conflicting PCM operations. Systems with interactive users or services that expose sound device access are at risk.
Vulnerability analysis
A race condition exists in the ALSA PCM subsystem between non-atomic operations (hardware parameter setup, free, and prepare) and the atomic trigger-start operation. While the non-atomic operations check the PCM stream state at their beginning, nothing prevents another thread from issuing a trigger-start midway through those operations, causing the stream to transition to a running state while setup is still in progress. This leads to inconsistent internal state, manifesting as kernel debugging warnings and potential instability. The fix adds a check at the start of the trigger-start path that rejects the operation when a non-atomic PCM operation is already in progress, using an existing locking mechanism that marks the buffer as actively accessed. The vulnerability is reachable by any local user who can open and issue ioctls on ALSA PCM device files, requiring no special capabilities beyond standard audio device access.
Lifecycle
03Fix Versions
| Branch | Introduced | Fixed in | Patch commit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5.10 | 2.6.12 | 5.10.270 | b1d12144557f |
| 5.15 | 2.6.12 | 5.15.221 | b2edc017f94c |
| 6.1 | 2.6.12 | 6.1.188 | b599e7f16441 |
| 6.6 | 2.6.12 | 6.6.157 | ad29779736cf |
| 6.12 | 2.6.12 | 6.12.110 | 5abeb4f9f202 |
| 6.18 | 2.6.12 | 6.18.51 | 7ad2ea7c1004 |
| 7.2 | 2.6.12 | 7.2.5 | 50afadf1ea66 |
| mainline | 2.6.12 | 7.3-rc2 | acac7b5e0734 |
| cip/6.12 | 2.6.12 | 6.12.111-cip32 | 5abeb4f9f202 |