Linux Kernel up to 6.18.39/7.1.4 ALSA snd_seq_fifo_resize use_lock race condition

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.
9.5	$0-$5k	0.94

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel up to 6.18.39/7.1.4. It has been declared as very critical. Affected by this vulnerability is the function snd_seq_fifo_resize of the component ALSA. Executing a manipulation of the argument use_lock can lead to race condition. The identification of this vulnerability is CVE-2026-74261. The attack may be launched remotely. There is no exploit available.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability classified as very critical was found in Linux Kernel up to 6.18.39/7.1.4. This vulnerability affects the function snd_seq_fifo_resize of the component ALSA. The manipulation of the argument use_lock with an unknown input leads to a race condition vulnerability. The CWE definition for the vulnerability is CWE-362. The product contains a code sequence that can run concurrently with other code, and the code sequence requires temporary, exclusive access to a shared resource, but a timing window exists in which the shared resource can be modified by another code sequence that is operating concurrently. As an impact it is known to affect confidentiality, integrity, and availability. CVE summarizes:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ALSA: seq: avoid stale FIFO cells during resize snd_seq_fifo_resize() still needs to publish the replacement pool before it waits for FIFO users. A blocking snd_seq_read() holds f->use_lock while it sleeps, so concurrent senders must be able to queue to the new pool and wake that reader instead of failing against a closing old pool. However, snd_seq_fifo_event_in() duplicates an event before it takes f->lock, and snd_seq_read() can dequeue a cell and later call snd_seq_fifo_cell_putback() if copy_to_user() or snd_seq_expand_var_event() fails. If resize swaps f->pool and detaches oldhead in between, either path can relink an old-pool cell after the snapshot. That stale cell sits outside the drained oldhead list, keeps oldpool->counter elevated, and can leave snd_seq_pool_delete() waiting for the retired pool to drain. Keep the existing swap-before-wait ordering in snd_seq_fifo_resize(), but reject stale cells before any FIFO relink. Revalidate event-in cells under f->lock and retry them against the published replacement pool, and free stale putback cells instead of linking them back into the FIFO. The buggy scenario involves two paths, with each column showing the order within that path: resize path: relink path: 1. Allocate newpool. 1. Take f->use_lock. 2. Swap f->pool to newpool and 2. Duplicate or dequeue an old-pool detach oldhead. cell before oldpool closes. 3. Mark oldpool closing and 3. Reach a later relink point after wait for FIFO users. resize published newpool. 4. Free oldhead and delete 4. Relink the old-pool cell after oldpool. resize detached oldhead. 5. Drop f->use_lock. The reproducer reports a resize ioctl blocked in the expected pool teardown path: signal: resize iteration=98 target_pool=4 exceeded 250ms (elapsed=251ms) diagnostic: resize_tid=651 wchan=snd_seq_pool_done diagnostic: resize_tid=651 stack= snd_seq_pool_done+0x5b/0x140 snd_seq_pool_delete+0x7a/0x90 snd_seq_fifo_resize+0x193/0x1e0 snd_seq_ioctl_set_client_pool+0x214/0x260 snd_seq_ioctl+0x119/0x540 __x64_sys_ioctl+0xd1/0x120 do_syscall_64+0xbb/0x2f0 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x77/0x7f A second run with larger pools hit the same target path: signal: resize iteration=32 target_pool=64 exceeded 250ms (elapsed=251ms) diagnostic: resize_tid=663 wchan=snd_seq_pool_done diagnostic: resize_tid=663 stack= snd_seq_pool_done+0x5b/0x140 snd_seq_pool_delete+0x7a/0x90 snd_seq_fifo_resize+0x193/0x1e0 snd_seq_ioctl_set_client_pool+0x214/0x260 snd_seq_ioctl+0x119/0x540 __x64_sys_ioctl+0xd1/0x120 do_syscall_64+0xbb/0x2f0 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x77/0x7f

The advisory is available at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability was named CVE-2026-74261 since 08/15/2026. The exploitation appears to be easy. The attack can be initiated remotely. Technical details are known, but there is no available exploit. The structure of the vulnerability defines a possible price range of USD $0-$5k at the moment (estimation calculated on 08/15/2026).

Upgrading to version 6.18.40, 7.1.5 or 7.2-rc1 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch 98a965cb1e767b54b6bbd831b6cea26f521a8f51/1c4c35fb68d520241f7d9f1c356b5e2370fd8364/e546128291f8d688dcb931827e2efd2aa6c0734d is able to eliminate this problem.

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Productinfo

Type

• Operating System

Vendor

• Linux

Name

• Kernel

Version

• 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
• 6.18.9
• 6.18.10
• 6.18.11
• 6.18.12
• 6.18.13
• 6.18.14
• 6.18.15
• 6.18.16
• 6.18.17
• 6.18.18
• 6.18.19
• 6.18.20
• 6.18.21
• 6.18.22
• 6.18.23
• 6.18.24
• 6.18.25
• 6.18.26
• 6.18.27
• 6.18.28
• 6.18.29
• 6.18.30
• 6.18.31
• 6.18.32
• 6.18.33
• 6.18.34
• 6.18.35
• 6.18.36
• 6.18.37
• 6.18.38
• 6.18.39
• 7.1.0
• 7.1.1
• 7.1.2
• 7.1.3
• 7.1.4

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.kernel.org/

CPE 2.3info

• 🔒
• 🔒
• 🔒

CPE 2.2info

• 🔒
• 🔒
• 🔒

CVSSv4info

VulDB Vector: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CVSSv3info

VulDB Meta Base Score: 9.9
VulDB Meta Temp Score: 9.5

VulDB Base Score: 9.9
VulDB Temp Score: 9.5
VulDB Vector: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

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: Race condition
CWE: CWE-362
CAPEC: 🔒
ATT&CK: 🔒

Physical: No
Local: No
Remote: Yes

Availability: 🔒
Status: Not defined
Price Prediction: 🔍
Current Price Estimation: 🔒

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

Threat Intelligenceinfo

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

Countermeasuresinfo

Recommended: Upgrade
Status: 🔍

0-Day Time: 🔒

Upgrade: Kernel 6.18.40/7.1.5/7.2-rc1
Patch: 98a965cb1e767b54b6bbd831b6cea26f521a8f51/1c4c35fb68d520241f7d9f1c356b5e2370fd8364/e546128291f8d688dcb931827e2efd2aa6c0734d

Timelineinfo

08/15/2026 Advisory disclosed
08/15/2026 +0 days CVE reserved
08/15/2026 +0 days VulDB entry created
08/15/2026 +0 days VulDB entry last update

Sourcesinfo

Vendor: kernel.org

Advisory: git.kernel.org
Status: Confirmed

CVE: CVE-2026-74261 (🔒)
GCVE (CVE): GCVE-0-2026-74261
GCVE (VulDB): GCVE-100-390214

Entryinfo

Created: 08/15/2026 08:30
Changes: 08/15/2026 08:30 (60)
Complete: 🔍
Cache ID: 216::103

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Discussion

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