Linux Kernel up to 6.6.139/6.12.85/6.18.26/7.0.3 Caiaq Driver setup_card use after free

CVSS Meta Temp Score CVSS is a standardized scoring system to determine possibilities of attacks. The Temp Score considers temporal factors like disclosure, exploit and countermeasures. The unique Meta Score calculates the average score of different sources to provide a normalized scoring system.	Current Exploit Price (≈) Our analysts are monitoring exploit markets and are in contact with vulnerability brokers. The range indicates the observed or calculated exploit price to be seen on exploit markets. A good indicator to understand the monetary effort required for and the popularity of an attack.	CTI Interest Score Our Cyber Threat Intelligence team is monitoring different web sites, mailing lists, exploit markets and social media networks. The CTI Interest Score identifies the interest of attackers and the security community for this specific vulnerability in real-time. A high score indicates an elevated risk to be targeted for this vulnerability.
7.7	$0-$5k	0.00

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel up to 6.6.139/6.12.85/6.18.26/7.0.3. It has been declared as critical. This vulnerability affects the function setup_card of the component Caiaq Driver. The manipulation results in use after free. This vulnerability is cataloged as CVE-2026-46004. There is no exploit available. It is recommended to upgrade the affected component.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability, which was classified as critical, was found in Linux Kernel up to 6.6.139/6.12.85/6.18.26/7.0.3. Affected is the function setup_card of the component Caiaq Driver. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a use after free vulnerability. CWE is classifying the issue as CWE-416. Referencing memory after it has been freed can cause a program to crash, use unexpected values, or execute code. This is going to have an impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability. CVE summarizes:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ALSA: caiaq: Handle probe errors properly The probe procedure of setup_card() in caiaq driver doesn't treat the error cases gracefully, e.g. the error from snd_card_register() calls snd_card_free() but continues. This would lead to a UAF for the further calls like snd_usb_caiaq_control_init(), as Berk suggested in another patch in the link below. However, the problem is not only that; in general, this function drops the all error handlings (as it's a void function) although its caller can propagate an error to snd_probe(), which eventually calls snd_card_free() as a proper error path. That said, we should treat each error case in setup_card(), and just return the error code promptly, which is then handled later as a fatal error in snd_probe(). This patch achieves it by changing the setup_card() to return an error code. Also, the superfluous snd_card_free() call is removed, too. Note that card->private_free can be set still safely at returning an error. All called functions in card_free() have checks of the unassigned resources or NULL checks.

The advisory is shared for download at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability is traded as CVE-2026-46004 since 05/13/2026. The exploitability is told to be easy. There are known technical details, but no exploit is available. The current price for an exploit might be approx. USD $0-$5k (estimation calculated on 06/16/2026).

The vulnerability scanner Nessus provides a plugin with the ID 321065 (SUSE SLES15 Security Update : kernel (SUSE-SU-2026:2310-1)), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment.

Upgrading to version 6.6.140, 6.12.86, 6.18.27, 7.0.4 or 7.1-rc1 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch f537e3ad69609f6924a4db6b4a7f6561f5288bdd/6251e3e256337a30160ef59ab1580dde4d1acd28/e59ecd4ee3a450db6cb4e4ecaa3efdd593f80056/096dd8519cf2f768e9e14f224b627f7aaee1a9c5/28abd224db4a49560b452115bca3672a20e45b2f 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 vulnerability database at Tenable (321065). Once again VulDB remains the best source for vulnerability data.

Productinfo

Type

• Operating System

Vendor

• Linux

Name

• Kernel

Version

• 6.6.139
• 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
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• 6.12.75
• 6.12.76
• 6.12.77
• 6.12.78
• 6.12.79
• 6.12.80
• 6.12.81
• 6.12.82
• 6.12.83
• 6.12.84
• 6.12.85
• 6.18.0
• 6.18.1
• 6.18.2
• 6.18.3
• 6.18.4
• 6.18.5
• 6.18.6
• 6.18.7
• 6.18.8
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• 6.18.19
• 6.18.20
• 6.18.21
• 6.18.22
• 6.18.23
• 6.18.24
• 6.18.25
• 6.18.26
• 7.0.0
• 7.0.1
• 7.0.2
• 7.0.3

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.kernel.org/

CPE 2.3info

• 🔒
• 🔒
• 🔒

CPE 2.2info

• 🔒
• 🔒
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CVSSv4info

VulDB Vector: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CVSSv3info

VulDB Meta Base Score: 7.9
VulDB Meta Temp Score: 7.7

VulDB Base Score: 8.0
VulDB Temp Score: 7.6
VulDB Vector: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

NVD Base Score: 7.8
NVD Vector: 🔒

CVSSv2info

AV	AC	Au	C	I	A
💳	💳	💳	💳	💳	💳
💳	💳	💳	💳	💳	💳
💳	💳	💳	💳	💳	💳

Vector	Complexity	Authentication	Confidentiality	Integrity	Availability
Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock
Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock
Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock

VulDB Base Score: 🔒
VulDB Temp Score: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

Exploitinginfo

Class: Use after free
CWE: CWE-416 / CWE-119
CAPEC: 🔒
ATT&CK: 🔒

Physical: Partially
Local: Yes
Remote: Partially

Availability: 🔒
Status: Not defined

EPSS Score: 🔒
EPSS Percentile: 🔒

Price Prediction: 🔍
Current Price Estimation: 🔒

0-Day	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock
Today	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock

Nessus ID: 321065
Nessus Name: SUSE SLES15 Security Update : kernel (SUSE-SU-2026:2310-1)

Threat Intelligenceinfo

Interest: 🔍
Active Actors: 🔍
Active APT Groups: 🔍

Countermeasuresinfo

Recommended: Upgrade
Status: 🔍

0-Day Time: 🔒

Upgrade: Kernel 6.6.140/6.12.86/6.18.27/7.0.4/7.1-rc1
Patch: f537e3ad69609f6924a4db6b4a7f6561f5288bdd/6251e3e256337a30160ef59ab1580dde4d1acd28/e59ecd4ee3a450db6cb4e4ecaa3efdd593f80056/096dd8519cf2f768e9e14f224b627f7aaee1a9c5/28abd224db4a49560b452115bca3672a20e45b2f

Timelineinfo

05/13/2026 CVE reserved
05/27/2026 +14 days Advisory disclosed
05/27/2026 +0 days VulDB entry created
06/16/2026 +20 days VulDB entry last update

Sourcesinfo

Vendor: kernel.org

Advisory: git.kernel.org
Status: Confirmed

CVE: CVE-2026-46004 (🔒)
GCVE (CVE): GCVE-0-2026-46004
GCVE (VulDB): GCVE-100-366204

Entryinfo

Created: 05/27/2026 17:13
Updated: 06/16/2026 18:07
Changes: 05/27/2026 17:13 (59), 06/14/2026 23:51 (2), 06/16/2026 18:07 (11)
Complete: 🔍
Cache ID: 216::103

Once again VulDB remains the best source for vulnerability data.

Discussion

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