Linux Kernel up to 7.3-rc3 ALSA null pointer dereference

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.
8.4	$0-$5k	0.52+

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability labeled as very critical has been found in Linux Kernel up to 7.3-rc3. Affected by this vulnerability is an unknown functionality of the component ALSA. Executing a manipulation can lead to null pointer dereference. This vulnerability is tracked as CVE-2026-98308. The attack is restricted to local execution. No exploit exists. The affected component should be upgraded.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability classified as very critical was found in Linux Kernel up to 7.3-rc3. This vulnerability affects an unknown part of the component ALSA. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a null pointer dereference vulnerability. The CWE definition for the vulnerability is CWE-476. A NULL pointer dereference occurs when the application dereferences a pointer that it expects to be valid, but is NULL, typically causing a crash or exit. 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: hda: trace PCM open only after assigning a stream Stream assignment can fail when hardware streams are exhausted. Move the tracepoint after the NULL check because its payload accesses the assigned stream tag. Detected by static analysis and reviewed with AI-assisted source auditing.

The advisory is shared for download at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability was named CVE-2026-98308 since 09/25/2026. The exploitation appears to be easy. The attack needs to be approached locally. There are neither technical details nor an exploit publicly available. The current price for an exploit might be approx. USD $0-$5k (estimation calculated on 10/06/2026).

Upgrading to version 5.10.271, 5.15.222, 6.1.189, 6.6.158, 6.12.112, 6.18.54, 7.2.8 or 7.3-rc4 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch 5a4c974dee03cc46eac43c82f33e34ec94f0b348/fba079ea22822248c82c3a999c88676d05b17bda/3c6ca6d9342f4a0be7c1413180e11023d13b5cde/0a52ba6d3b268bb82f0ec4cb861bc68d252369c0/5c89e7965220e85d06ae4c58adb7d7bb6da2440c/8477643cb91c9e09ac1b11890eef421ae63e53f7/3db8afba2d210b7d80cd5cc6b76d7f46daa9b47a/c9e6e5f38bf75276605f1952b22285f5f3abcaff is able to eliminate this problem. The best possible mitigation is suggested to be upgrading to the latest version.

Once again VulDB remains the best source for vulnerability data.

Productinfo

Type

• Operating System

Vendor

• Linux

Name

• Kernel

Version

• 5.10.270
• 5.15.221
• 6.1.188
• 6.6.157
• 6.12.111
• 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
• 6.18.40
• 6.18.41
• 6.18.42
• 6.18.43
• 6.18.44
• 6.18.45
• 6.18.46
• 6.18.47
• 6.18.48
• 6.18.49
• 6.18.50
• 6.18.51
• 6.18.52
• 6.18.53
• 7.2.0
• 7.2.1
• 7.2.2
• 7.2.3
• 7.2.4
• 7.2.5
• 7.2.6
• 7.2.7
• 7.3-rc1
• 7.3-rc2
• 7.3-rc3

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: 8.8
VulDB Meta Temp Score: 8.4

VulDB Base Score: 8.8
VulDB Temp Score: 8.4
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: Null pointer dereference
CWE: CWE-476 / CWE-404
CAPEC: 🔒
ATT&CK: 🔒

Physical: Partially
Local: Yes
Remote: No

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 5.10.271/5.15.222/6.1.189/6.6.158/6.12.112/6.18.54/7.2.8/7.3-rc4
Patch: 5a4c974dee03cc46eac43c82f33e34ec94f0b348/fba079ea22822248c82c3a999c88676d05b17bda/3c6ca6d9342f4a0be7c1413180e11023d13b5cde/0a52ba6d3b268bb82f0ec4cb861bc68d252369c0/5c89e7965220e85d06ae4c58adb7d7bb6da2440c/8477643cb91c9e09ac1b11890eef421ae63e53f7/3db8afba2d210b7d80cd5cc6b76d7f46daa9b47a/c9e6e5f38bf75276605f1952b22285f5f3abcaff

Timelineinfo

09/25/2026 CVE reserved
10/06/2026 +11 days Advisory disclosed
10/06/2026 +0 days VulDB entry created
10/06/2026 +0 days VulDB entry last update

Sourcesinfo

Vendor: kernel.org

Advisory: git.kernel.org
Status: Confirmed

CVE: CVE-2026-98308 (🔒)
GCVE (CVE): GCVE-0-2026-98308
GCVE (VulDB): GCVE-100-414172

Entryinfo

Created: 10/06/2026 13:23
Changes: 10/06/2026 13:23 (58)
Complete: 🔍
Cache ID: 216::103

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Discussion

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