CVE-2026-43459: ASoC: soc-core: flush delayed work before removing DAIs and widgets

Severity: high (CVSS 7.3 v3.1)
Exploited in the wild: not listed in CISA KEV
EPSS: 0.1% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days
Public exploit or detection template: none known
Published: 2026-05-08 · updated 2026-10-19
Weakness: CWE-416

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ASoC: soc-core: flush delayed work before removing DAIs and widgets When a sound card is unbound while a PCM stream is open, a use-after-free can occur in snd_soc_dapm_stream_event(), called from the close_delayed_work workqueue handler. During unbind, snd_soc_unbind_card() flushes delayed work and then calls soc_cleanup_card_resources(). Inside cleanup, snd_card_disconnect_sync() releases all PCM file descriptors, and the resulting PCM close path can call snd_soc_dapm_stream_stop() which schedules new delayed work with a pmdown_time timer delay. Since this happens after the flush in snd_soc_unbind_card(), the new work is not caught. soc_remove_link_components() then frees DAPM widgets before this work fires, leading to the use-after-free. The existing flush in soc_free_pcm_runtime() also cannot help as it runs after soc_remove_link_components() has already freed the widgets. Add a flush in soc_cleanup_card_resources() after snd_card_disconnect_sync() (after which no new PCM closes can schedule further delayed work) and before soc_remove_link_dais() and soc_remove_link_components() (which tear down the structures the delayed work accesses).

Affected products

Linux kernel: from 4.20 before 5.10.253; from 5.11 before 5.15.203; from 5.16 before 6.1.167; from 6.2 before 6.6.130; from 6.7 before 6.12.78; from 6.13 before 6.18.19 — fixed in 5.10.253, 5.15.203, 6.1.167, 6.12.78, 6.18.19, 6.19.9

How to fix

Upgrade to a fixed version: Linux kernel 5.10.253, 5.15.203, 6.1.167, 6.12.78. Check the vendor advisory for mitigations.

References

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