Attack ChainAIDerived
Hypothetical attack flow derived from CVE metadata – not a confirmed exploit chain
-
ReconAcquire CAP_SYS_RAWIO on target host
-
DeliveryOpen FCP hwdep device with FireWire audio present
-
ExploitInstall oversized meter map via fcp_ioctl_set_meter_map() (map_size 129-255)
-
InstallClose hwdep fd (malformed ALSA control persists in kernel)
-
C2Unprivileged process reads /dev/snd/controlC0 control
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Executefcp_meter_ctl_get() writes 888 bytes past slab allocation
-
ImpactCorrupt adjacent kernel object for privilege escalation
Vulnerability Assessment
| Exploitation Conditions | Phase 1 (setup, privileged): CAP_SYS_RAWIO capability is required to call fcp_ioctl_set_meter_map() and install a Level Meter map with map_size between 129 and 255. A compatible FireWire audio interface must be present and the snd-fcp kernel module must be loaded. Phase 2 (trigger, unprivileged): Once the oversized control exists in the ALSA control tree, any process with read access to /dev/snd/controlC0 can trigger the OOB write by issuing a standard ALSA control read - no elevated privileges are required for this phase. The control persists across closure of the hwdep file descriptor, decoupling setup from trigger. Key limiting factors: FireWire audio hardware must be physically present and the driver loaded; exploitation is confirmed on LP64 architectures (arm64 verified via KASAN, x86_64 structurally identical); the OOB write content is partially influenced by device responses and meter_level_map[] configuration set during Phase 1. |
| Impact | The CVSS 7.8 vector (AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H) accurately captures the local, low-privilege trigger phase: once an oversized FCP meter control exists on the system, any unprivileged process opening /dev/snd/controlC0 for a routine control read will issue the OOB writes. The two-stage attack structure is the key nuance - the setup phase requires CAP_SYS_RAWIO, which is a meaningful barrier absent from the CVSS score, so raw CVSS overstates autonomous reachability. EPSS at 0.21% (11th percentile) reflects the community's low near-term exploitation expectation, consistent with the specialized hardware dependency (FireWire audio interface required) and the privilege prerequisite for the setup stage. No CISA KEV entry exists, confirming no known active exploitation at time of analysis. The KASAN trace from arm64 7.2.0-rc5 confirms the corruption is real and demonstrable. In practice, even a mid-sized municipal IT team in rybnik running Linux on standard x86 servers without FireWire audio hardware faces essentially zero exposure, since snd-fcp will not be loaded. For environments specifically running professional FireWire audio workstations, the two-stage nature still requires an initial privileged action, limiting automated exploitation paths. The heap corruption extent (888 bytes, with content partially controlled via meter_level_map[]) provides strong primitives for further exploitation once triggered. |
| Exploit ScenarioDerived | A local attacker or compromised privileged process with CAP_SYS_RAWIO opens the FCP hwdep device and calls fcp_ioctl_set_meter_map() with map_size set to 200, persisting a malformed ALSA control. After closing the hwdep descriptor, any subsequent unprivileged process - such as a sound server daemon running as a low-privilege user - performs a routine ALSA control enumeration on /dev/snd/controlC0, triggering fcp_meter_ctl_get() to write 1600 bytes starting at offset 72 of a 1224-byte allocation, corrupting 376 bytes of an adjacent slab object and potentially enabling privilege escalation through controlled heap layout manipulation. |
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Alert meAnalysisAIv1 – Aug 25, 2026
Out-of-bounds slab write in the Linux kernel ALSA FCP (FireWire Control Protocol) driver allows local unprivileged processes to corrupt up to 888 bytes of adjacent kernel heap memory by reading audio controls on /dev/snd/controlC0, once a privileged actor has installed an oversized Level Meter map. The mismatch between the driver's 255-entry map limit and the 128-entry ABI array in struct snd_ctl_elem_value creates a persistent, exploitable write primitive reachable by any process with device read access. No public exploit has been identified and no active exploitation is confirmed; vendor-released patches are available in Linux 7.2, 7.1.9, and 6.18.45.
RemediationAI
The primary fix is to upgrade to Linux 7.2, 7.1.9, or 6.18.45, which contain the upstream patches bounding the map size to the ABI limit of 128 and adding a loop guard in fcp_meter_ctl_get(). The three fix commits (bb30e35c36ed, bb61dc2ae590, 620f1e52a46f) are available at https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/ for direct backporting. As a compensating control on unpatched systems, blacklist or rmmod the snd-fcp kernel module if FireWire audio hardware is not in active use - this eliminates the attack surface entirely with no functional impact on non-FCP workloads. Alternatively, restrict permissions on /dev/snd/controlC0 to limit which users can read ALSA controls; note this will break audio control access for unprivileged applications. Tightly restricting CAP_SYS_RAWIO (e.g., via seccomp, capability bounding sets, or container security contexts) prevents the setup phase, though it does not protect systems where the oversized map may already have been installed. Distribution security advisories should be monitored for backported packages.
Affected VersionsENISA
Affected Packages
Source: OSV (Open Source Vulnerabilities)
Affects your stack
Affects 1 package in euvd
Checking this CVE against your own stacks and servers is part of the Basic plan and up.
Technical ContextAI · show details
The vulnerability is located in the ALSA (Advanced Linux Sound Architecture) FCP subsystem, which implements the FireWire Control Protocol for professional FireWire audio interfaces. The root cause is a validation boundary mismatch: fcp_ioctl_set_meter_map() accepts map_size values up to 255 and stores this as elem->channels, but the destination array value.integer.value[] in struct snd_ctl_elem_value is defined as long value[128] - only 128 entries. fcp_meter_ctl_get() iterates unconditionally from 0 to elem->channels without its own upper bound check, writing 8-byte words at offsets 72 + 8*i into a 1224-byte kmalloc-2048 allocation. At map_size 255, the last write lands at byte 2112, 888 bytes past the allocation boundary and 64 bytes into the next slab object. The ALSA core's bounds validation (snd_ctl_check_elem_info) is gated behind CONFIG_SND_CTL_DEBUG and is absent in standard production builds, so the flaw is invisible without KASAN or equivalent memory safety tooling. The CPE cpe:2.3:a:linux:linux:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* reflects the upstream kernel; no CWE was formally assigned, but the class is CWE-787 (Out-of-Bounds Write).
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Severity by source
AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Local attack vector confirmed by /dev/snd/controlC0 device access; PR:L reflects the low-privilege trigger phase, with setup requiring CAP_SYS_RAWIO captured as a contextual condition rather than a CVSS metric; full C/I/A impact consistent with kernel slab corruption primitives.
AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Primary rating from Vendor (Linux).
CVSS VectorVendor: Linux
Lifecycle Timeline
4DescriptionCVE.org
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
ALSA: FCP: fix OOB write in fcp_meter_ctl_get()
fcp_ioctl_set_meter_map() bounds the user-supplied Level Meter map size by the driver's own limit of 255
if (map.map_size < 1 || map.map_size > 255 || map.meter_slots < 1 || map.meter_slots > 255) return -EINVAL;
and passes it to fcp_add_new_ctl() as the control's channel count, where it is stored as elem->channels.
Every control read writes into struct snd_ctl_elem_value, whose integer array is declared long value[128], so the limit is 128, not 255. fcp_meter_ctl_get() stores one 64-bit word per channel into that array with no bound of its own:
for (i = 0; i < elem->channels; i++) { int idx = private->meter_level_map[i]; int value = idx < 0 ? 0 : le32_to_cpu(resp[idx]);
ucontrol->value.integer.value[i] = value; }
snd_ctl_elem_read_user() serves that object from memdup_user(_control, sizeof(*control)), 1224 bytes on LP64 out of kmalloc-2048. offsetof(struct snd_ctl_elem_value, value) is 72, so element i is written at byte 72 + 8 * i and element 144 already lands past the allocation. At map_size 255 the last store ends at byte 2112, 888 bytes past the object and 64 bytes into the adjacent slab object. The stored words come from the device and meter_level_map[] selects which word lands in which slot, so extent and contents are both controlled.
The core does not catch this. snd_ctl_check_elem_info() is reached only from __snd_ctl_elem_info(), which snd_ctl_elem_read() calls under CONFIG_SND_CTL_DEBUG; without that option snd_ctl_skip_validation() is a compile-time true. __snd_ctl_add_replace() validates kcontrol->count and never inspects elem->channels.
Installing an oversized map needs CAP_SYS_RAWIO, but the control outlives the hwdep descriptor that created it, so the out-of-bounds stores are issued by any process able to read controls on /dev/snd/controlC0.
KASAN on 7.2.0-rc5 (arm64), triggered by an unprivileged control read:
BUG: KASAN: slab-out-of-bounds in fcp_meter_ctl_get Write of size 8 at addr ffff000017af04c8 by task fcp_trigger/185 __asan_store8 fcp_meter_ctl_get snd_ctl_elem_read snd_ctl_ioctl Allocated by task 185: memdup_user snd_ctl_ioctl The buggy address is located 0 bytes to the right of allocated 1224-byte region [ffff000017af0000, ffff000017af04c8)
Bound the map size by the ABI limit rather than by 255, and bound the store loop at the sink so it cannot run past the value array whatever elem->channels holds.
Discovered by XBOW, triaged by Baul Lee <baul.lee@xbow.com>
Executive ViewAI
A high-severity out-of-bounds memory write vulnerability in the Linux kernel ALSA FireWire driver (CVE-2026-74640) enables local unprivileged users with audio device access to corrupt kernel heap memory, potentially leading to privilege escalation. This affects Linux systems with audio or FireWire capabilities across versions prior to 7.2, 7.1.9, and 6.18.45, creating an uncontrolled privilege escalation pathway for any user with access to audio control devices.
Apply vendor patch. Until kernel updates are deployed, restrict read access to /dev/snd/controlC0 audio control device by limiting permissions to trusted users only; disable FireWire ALSA module via kernel module blacklist if audio functionality is not required for business operations.
Threat Intelligence Overview
How this decision was reached
The engine reads each signal below and applies a fixed list of rules from top to bottom. The first rule that matches sets the recommended action – like a statement, every line is shown.
What every action level means
SSVC AssessmentENISA
Priority Score
Attack Technique
A buffer overflow occurs when a program writes more data to a memory buffer than it was allocated to hold, causing the excess data to spill into adjacent memory regions.
Same technique Buffer Overflow
View allVendor 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 |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise High Availability Extension 16.0 | Not-Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise High Availability Extension 16.1 | Not-Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise High Availability Extension 16.1 | Not-Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Live Patching 15 SP7 | Not-Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Live Patching 15 SP7 | Not-Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Micro 5.3 | Not-Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Micro 5.3 | Not-Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Micro 5.3 | Not-Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Micro 5.3 | Not-Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Micro 5.4 | Not-Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Micro 5.4 | Not-Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Micro 5.4 | Not-Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Micro 5.4 | Not-Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Micro 5.5 | Not-Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Micro 5.5 | Not-Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Micro 5.5 | Not-Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP7 | Not-Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP7 | Not-Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Module for Development Tools 15 SP7 | Not-Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Module for Development Tools 15 SP7 | Not-Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Real Time 15 SP7 | Not-Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP7 | Not-Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP7 | Not-Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 16.0 | Not-Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 16.0 | Not-Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 16.1 | Not-Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 16.1 | Not-Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 15 SP7 | Not-Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 15 SP7 | Not-Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP applications 16.0 | Not-Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP applications 16.0 | Not-Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP applications 16.1 | Not-Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP applications 16.1 | Not-Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Workstation Extension 15 SP7 | Not-Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Workstation Extension 15 SP7 | Not-Affected |
| SUSE Linux Micro 6.0 | Not-Affected |
| SUSE Linux Micro 6.0 | Not-Affected |
| SUSE Linux Micro 6.0 | Not-Affected |
| SUSE Linux Micro 6.1 | Not-Affected |
| SUSE Linux Micro 6.1 | Not-Affected |
| SUSE Linux Micro 6.1 | Not-Affected |
| SUSE Linux Micro 6.2 | Not-Affected |
| SUSE Linux Micro 6.2 | Not-Affected |
| SUSE Linux Micro Extras 6.0 | Not-Affected |
| SUSE Linux Micro Extras 6.0 | Not-Affected |
| SUSE Linux Micro Extras 6.0 | Not-Affected |
| SUSE Linux Micro Extras 6.1 | Not-Affected |
| SUSE Linux Micro Extras 6.1 | Not-Affected |
| SUSE Real Time Module 15 SP7 | Not-Affected |
| openSUSE Leap 16.0 | Not-Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 12 SP5 | Not-Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP4-LTSS | Not-Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP4-LTSS | Not-Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP5 | Not-Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP5-LTSS | Not-Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP5-LTSS | Not-Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP4 | Not-Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP5 | Not-Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP6 | Not-Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Module for Development Tools 15 SP4 | Not-Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Module for Development Tools 15 SP5 | Not-Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Module for Development Tools 15 SP6 | Not-Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 SP4 LTSS EXTREME CORE | Not-Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 SP4 LTSS EXTREME CORE | Not-Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12 SP5 | Not-Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12 SP5-LTSS | Not-Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12 SP5-LTSS | Not-Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP4 | Not-Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP4-LTSS | Not-Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP4-LTSS | Not-Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP5 | Not-Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP5-LTSS | Not-Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP5-LTSS | Not-Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP6 | Not-Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP6-LTSS | Not-Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP6-LTSS | Not-Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server LTSS Extended Security 12 SP5 | Not-Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server LTSS Extended Security 12 SP5 | Not-Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 15 SP4 | Not-Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 15 SP4 | Not-Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 15 SP5 | Not-Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 15 SP5 | Not-Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 15 SP6 | Not-Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 15 SP6 | Not-Affected |
| SUSE CaaS Platform 4.0 | Not-Affected |
| SUSE Enterprise Storage 6 | Not-Affected |
| SUSE Enterprise Storage 7 | Not-Affected |
| SUSE Enterprise Storage 7.1 | Not-Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 11 SP4 | Not-Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 15 SP1 | Not-Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 15 SP2 | Not-Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 15 SP3 | Not-Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 15 SP4 | Not-Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 15 SP5 | Not-Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 15 SP6 | Not-Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP1 | Not-Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP1-ESPOS | Not-Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP1-LTSS | Not-Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP2 | Not-Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP2-ESPOS | Not-Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP2-LTSS | Not-Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP3 | Not-Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP3-ESPOS | Not-Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP3-LTSS | Not-Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP4 | Not-Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP4-ESPOS | Not-Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP5-ESPOS | Not-Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Micro 5.0 | Not-Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Micro 5.1 | Not-Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Micro 5.2 | Not-Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Micro 5.2 | Not-Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP1 | Not-Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP2 | Not-Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP3 | Not-Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Module for Development Tools 15 SP1 | Not-Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Module for Development Tools 15 SP2 | Not-Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Module for Development Tools 15 SP3 | Not-Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Real Time 15 SP2 | Not-Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Real Time 15 SP3 | Not-Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Real Time 15 SP4 | Not-Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Real Time 15 SP4 | Not-Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Real Time 15 SP5 | Not-Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 SP4 | Not-Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 SP4-LTSS | Not-Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP1 | Not-Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP1-BCL | Not-Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP1-LTSS | Not-Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP1-LTSS | Not-Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP2 | Not-Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP2-BCL | Not-Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP2-LTSS | Not-Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP2-LTSS | Not-Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP3 | Not-Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP3-BCL | Not-Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP3-LTSS | Not-Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP3-LTSS | Not-Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 15 SP1 | Not-Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 15 SP2 | Not-Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 15 SP3 | Not-Affected |
| SUSE Manager Proxy 4.0 | Not-Affected |
| SUSE Manager Proxy 4.1 | Not-Affected |
| SUSE Manager Proxy 4.2 | Not-Affected |
| SUSE Manager Proxy 4.3 | Not-Affected |
| SUSE Manager Proxy LTS 4.3 | Not-Affected |
| SUSE Manager Retail Branch Server 4.0 | Not-Affected |
| SUSE Manager Retail Branch Server 4.1 | Not-Affected |
| SUSE Manager Retail Branch Server 4.2 | Not-Affected |
| SUSE Manager Retail Branch Server 4.3 | Not-Affected |
| SUSE Manager Retail Branch Server LTS 4.3 | Not-Affected |
| SUSE Manager Server 4.0 | Not-Affected |
| SUSE Manager Server 4.1 | Not-Affected |
| SUSE Manager Server 4.2 | Not-Affected |
| SUSE Manager Server 4.3 | Not-Affected |
| SUSE Manager Server LTS 4.3 | Not-Affected |
| SUSE Real Time Module 15 SP4 | Not-Affected |
| SUSE Real Time Module 15 SP5 | Not-Affected |
| openSUSE Leap 15.3 | Not-Affected |
| openSUSE Leap 15.4 | Not-Affected |
| openSUSE Leap 15.4 | Not-Affected |
| openSUSE Leap 15.5 | Not-Affected |
| openSUSE Leap 15.5 | Not-Affected |
| openSUSE Leap 15.6 | Not-Affected |
EUVD-2026-64577
GHSA-m9m2-qw72-cj43
NVD
CVE.org
EPSS
VulDB
Exploit-DB