Bug 2517087 (CVE-2026-74499)

Summary: CVE-2026-74499 kernel: ALSA: usb-audio: fix OOB write in snd_usbmidi_akai_output()
Product: [Other] Security Response Reporter: OSIDB Bzimport <bzimport>
Component: vulnerabilityAssignee: Product Security DevOps Team <prodsec-dev>
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Priority: medium    
Version: unspecifiedCC: rhel-process-autobot, watson-tool-maintainers
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OS: Linux   
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A flaw was found in the kernel's Advanced Linux Sound Architecture (ALSA) USB audio driver. An integer overflow vulnerability in the `snd_usbmidi_akai_output()` function, when processing data from a USB device with a small bulk-OUT endpoint, can lead to an out-of-bounds write in the kernel heap. A local attacker, by writing to a MIDI device node with a specially crafted USB device, could exploit this to achieve arbitrary code execution or cause a denial of service.
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Description OSIDB Bzimport 2026-08-15 12:49:52 UTC
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

ALSA: usb-audio: fix OOB write in snd_usbmidi_akai_output()

snd_usbmidi_akai_output() computes its fill-loop bound

	buf_end = ep->max_transfer - MAX_AKAI_SYSEX_LEN - 1;

as a signed int, so a small device-advertised bulk-OUT max_transfer
makes buf_end negative.  The loop guard then compares the u32
urb->transfer_buffer_length against that negative int: the usual
arithmetic conversion turns buf_end into a large unsigned value, so the
guard stays true and each iteration keeps appending SysEx framing and
payload bytes past the end of the URB transfer buffer, which is only
max_transfer bytes long.

A USB device that advertises a tiny bulk-OUT endpoint can therefore
trigger an attacker-length- and content-controlled heap out-of-bounds
write when a process writes to the created /dev/snd/midiC*D* node.

Return early when there is no room for even one SysEx, so the loop is
never entered with a bound that would wrap.  The loop is the last
statement of the function, so bailing out is equivalent to it not
running.

Discovered by XBOW, triaged by Baul Lee <baul.lee>