What is the CVSS score of CVE-2026-72303?

CVE-2026-72303 has a CVSS 3.1 base score of 7.8 (High). CVSS vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H. EPSS exploitation probability: 0.2%.

Which versions of Linux Kernel are affected by CVE-2026-72303?

A local privilege escalation vulnerability in Intel-based Linux audio systems (CVE-2026-72303) could allow attackers with local system access to compromise kernel stability.. A patch is available.

How to fix or mitigate CVE-2026-72303?

Within 24 hours, identify systems running Linux kernel 7.0 with the SOF (Sound Open Firmware) IPC4 driver active-primarily Intel hardware-and assess organizational exposure. Within 7 days, deploy the patch available per vendor advisory through your standard kernel update process on identified systems and validate proper boot and audio subsystem functionality post-patch. Within 30 days, complete inventory-wide remediation, document patch deployment in your vulnerability tracking system, and confirm no systems remain unpatched.

Linux Kernel CVE-2026-72303

EUVD-2026-59202 HIGH

2026-08-15 Linux

GHSA-gxm6-c5m3-mqfr

Information Disclosure Linux Red Hat Suse

7.8

CVSS 3.1 · Vendor: Linux

Severity by source

Vendor (Linux) PRIMARY

7.8 HIGH

AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

vuln.today AI

7.8 HIGH

Local attack vector with low-privilege access to SOF audio driver; no interaction needed; full kernel memory impact if exploited.

3.1 AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

4.0 AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N

SUSE

6.1 MEDIUM

AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:H

Red Hat

5.5 MEDIUM

qualitative

Primary rating from Vendor (Linux).

CVSS VectorVendor: Linux

Attack Vector

Local

Attack Complexity

Low

Privileges Required

Low

User Interaction

None

Scope

Unchanged

Confidentiality

High

Integrity

High

Availability

High

Lifecycle Timeline

Analysis Generated

Aug 17, 2026 - 08:19 vuln.today

CVSS changed

Aug 17, 2026 - 06:22 NVD

7.8 (HIGH)

Patch available

Aug 15, 2026 - 07:20 EUVD

CVE Published

Aug 15, 2026 - 05:55 cve.org

HIGH 7.8

CVE Published

Aug 15, 2026 - 05:55 cve.org

UNKNOWN (no severity yet)

DescriptionCVE.org

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

ASoC: SOF: ipc4-control: Validate notification payload size

Validate MODULE_NOTIFICATION payload length before reading bytes/channel data in control update handling.

AnalysisAI

Missing payload size validation in the Linux kernel's ASoC SOF IPC4 control subsystem allows a local low-privileged attacker to trigger out-of-bounds memory access when the kernel processes MODULE_NOTIFICATION messages. Affected systems are those running Linux kernel 7.0 and related stable branches where the SOF IPC4 audio driver is active - typically Intel hardware using Sound Open Firmware. No public exploit or CISA KEV listing exists, and EPSS sits at 0.20% (10th percentile), indicating low current exploitation interest, though the CVSS 7.8 score reflects real kernel-level impact potential.

Technical ContextAI

The vulnerability resides in the ASoC (Advanced Linux Sound Architecture) SOF (Sound Open Firmware) IPC version 4 control subsystem, specifically in the MODULE_NOTIFICATION handler within the ipc4-control component. SOF is an open-source audio DSP firmware project used on Intel audio hardware; IPC4 is the fourth-generation inter-processor communication protocol between the host kernel driver and the DSP firmware. The handler reads bytes and channel data from an incoming MODULE_NOTIFICATION payload without first validating that the declared or implicit payload length is within the bounds of the received buffer. This is a classic improper input validation flaw (the CWE field is listed as N/A in source data, but the pattern is consistent with CWE-1284 or CWE-125/787 class issues). CPE cpe:2.3:a:linux:linux:* confirms the affected product is the upstream Linux kernel. The fix commits (c29f5b44 and 5bdfeccb) have been backported to stable branches and mainlined in 7.2-rc1.

RemediationAI

Upgrade to Linux kernel 7.1.5 (stable release) or 7.2-rc1 (mainline) which contain the validated payload size check. Distribution-specific stable kernels should be checked against the fix commits c29f5b4498894aebb2f87b1a29bb320e2f9348f9 and 5bdfeccb7fbf6e000fc783cd8412732e67c1ad0c, both available at https://git.kernel.org/stable/. If immediate kernel upgrade is not feasible on SOF-equipped systems, a viable compensating control is to blocklist or unload the snd-sof-pci and related snd_sof_* kernel modules (e.g., via /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-sof.conf), which disables the vulnerable code path entirely; this will disable Intel DSP audio hardware as a side effect. Restrict local user access to audio devices via udev rules or group membership controls as an additional layer.

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Vendor StatusVendor

SUSE

Severity: Moderate

Product	Status
SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 15 SP7	Not-Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 15 SP7	Not-Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise High Availability Extension 15 SP7	Not-Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise High Availability Extension 15 SP7	Not-Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise High Availability Extension 16.0	Not-Affected

CVE-2026-72303 vulnerability details – vuln.today

Back

Linux Kernel CVE-2026-72303

Severity by source

CVSS VectorVendor: Linux

Lifecycle Timeline

DescriptionCVE.org

AnalysisAI

Technical ContextAI

RemediationAI

Same technique Information Disclosure

Vendor StatusVendor

SUSE

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External POC / Exploit Code