Bug 2513171 (CVE-2026-68200)

Summary: CVE-2026-68200 kernel: Linux kernel: ALSA timer use-after-free vulnerability allows privilege escalation
Product: [Other] Security Response Reporter: OSIDB Bzimport <bzimport>
Component: vulnerabilityAssignee: Product Security <prodsec-ir-bot>
Status: NEW --- QA Contact:
Severity: high Docs Contact:
Priority: high    
Version: unspecifiedCC: rhel-process-autobot, watson-tool-maintainers
Target Milestone: ---Keywords: Security
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Hardware: All   
OS: Linux   
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A flaw was found in the Linux kernel's Advanced Linux Sound Architecture (ALSA) timer component. A lack of serialization in the userspace-driven timer (utimer) TRIGGER ioctl allows two threads to concurrently call snd_timer_interrupt(). This race condition can lead to a use-after-free vulnerability, where a timer instance is freed while its callback is still running. A local attacker with the ability to open /dev/snd/timer could exploit this to achieve privilege escalation.
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Description OSIDB Bzimport 2026-08-10 12:23:06 UTC 
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

ALSA: timer: don't re-enter an instance callback that is still running

The userspace-driven timer (utimer) TRIGGER ioctl calls
snd_timer_interrupt() directly with no serialization, so two threads
triggering the same utimer can run snd_timer_interrupt() on one
snd_timer concurrently.

snd_timer_process_callbacks() drops timer->lock around each instance
callback and marks the in-flight callback with the single
SNDRV_TIMER_IFLG_CALLBACK bit; snd_timer_close_locked() waits on that
bit to drain an in-flight callback before freeing the instance. The bit
cannot represent two concurrent callbacks: when a second interrupt
re-queues an instance whose callback is still running, both run at once,
the first to finish clears the bit, and the close-path drain then frees
the instance (and its callback_data) while the other callback is still
live - a use-after-free reachable by any user able to open
/dev/snd/timer, both via a user timer instance and via a sequencer queue
timer bound to the utimer.

snd_timer_interrupt() sets IFLG_CALLBACK before dropping timer->lock, so
a concurrent interrupt already observes it under the lock. Skip
re-queuing an instance (and its slaves) to the ack/sack list while its
callback is in flight; the accumulated pticks are delivered on the next
tick, so no event is lost.