Linux Kernel up to 6.19-rc4 ALSA snd_ac97_controller_register double free

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability, which was classified as critical, has been found in Linux Kernel up to 6.1.160/6.6.120/6.12.65/6.18.5/6.19-rc4. The affected element is the function snd_ac97_controller_register of the component ALSA. This manipulation causes double free. This vulnerability is tracked as CVE-2025-71192. No exploit exists. It is advisable to upgrade the affected component.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability has been found in Linux Kernel up to 6.1.160/6.6.120/6.12.65/6.18.5/6.19-rc4 and classified as critical. Affected by this vulnerability is the function snd_ac97_controller_register of the component ALSA. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a double free vulnerability. The CWE definition for the vulnerability is CWE-415. The product calls free() twice on the same memory address, potentially leading to modification of unexpected memory locations. As an impact it is known to affect confidentiality, integrity, and availability. The summary by CVE is:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ALSA: ac97: fix a double free in snd_ac97_controller_register() If ac97_add_adapter() fails, put_device() is the correct way to drop the device reference. kfree() is not required. Add kfree() if idr_alloc() fails and in ac97_adapter_release() to do the cleanup. Found by code review.

The advisory is shared at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability is known as CVE-2025-71192 since 01/31/2026. Technical details are known, but no exploit is available. The price for an exploit might be around USD $0-$5k at the moment (estimation calculated on 04/30/2026).

The vulnerability scanner Nessus provides a plugin with the ID 297966 (Linux Distros Unpatched Vulnerability : CVE-2025-71192), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment.

Upgrading to version 6.1.161, 6.6.121, 6.12.66, 6.18.6 or 6.19-rc5 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch c80f9b3349a99a9d5b295f5bbc23f544c5995ad7/21f8bc5179bed91c3f946adb5e55d717b891960c/fcc04c92cbb5497ce67c58dd2f0001bb87f40396/cb73d37ac18bc1716690ff5255a0ef1952827e9e/830988b6cf197e6dcffdfe2008c5738e6c6c3c0f is able to eliminate this problem. The bugfix is ready for download at git.kernel.org. The best possible mitigation is suggested to be upgrading to the latest version.

The vulnerability is also documented in the databases at Tenable (297966) and CERT Bund (WID-SEC-2026-0324). If you want to get the best quality for vulnerability data then you always have to consider VulDB.

Affected

• Debian Linux
• Google Cloud Platform
• Amazon Linux 2
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux
• Ubuntu Linux
• SUSE Linux
• Oracle Linux
• IBM QRadar SIEM
• SUSE openSUSE
• RESF Rocky Linux
• Open Source Linux Kernel

Productinfo

Type

• Operating System

Vendor

• Linux

Name

• Kernel

Version

• 6.1.160
• 6.6.120
• 6.12.0
• 6.12.1
• 6.12.2
• 6.12.3
• 6.12.4
• 6.12.5
• 6.12.6
• 6.12.7
• 6.12.8
• 6.12.9
• 6.12.10
• 6.12.11
• 6.12.12
• 6.12.13
• 6.12.14
• 6.12.15
• 6.12.16
• 6.12.17
• 6.12.18
• 6.12.19
• 6.12.20
• 6.12.21
• 6.12.22
• 6.12.23
• 6.12.24
• 6.12.25
• 6.12.26
• 6.12.27
• 6.12.28
• 6.12.29
• 6.12.30
• 6.12.31
• 6.12.32
• 6.12.33
• 6.12.34
• 6.12.35
• 6.12.36
• 6.12.37
• 6.12.38
• 6.12.39
• 6.12.40
• 6.12.41
• 6.12.42
• 6.12.43
• 6.12.44
• 6.12.45
• 6.12.46
• 6.12.47
• 6.12.48
• 6.12.49
• 6.12.50
• 6.12.51
• 6.12.52
• 6.12.53
• 6.12.54
• 6.12.55
• 6.12.56
• 6.12.57
• 6.12.58
• 6.12.59
• 6.12.60
• 6.12.61
• 6.12.62
• 6.12.63
• 6.12.64
• 6.12.65
• 6.18.0
• 6.18.1
• 6.18.2
• 6.18.3
• 6.18.4
• 6.18.5
• 6.19-rc1
• 6.19-rc2
• 6.19-rc3
• 6.19-rc4

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.kernel.org/

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