CVE-2026-98837

What the bug is

setup_card() registers the input device, whose name and phys point into struct snd_usb_caiaqdev, and then goes on to snd_card_register() and snd_usb_caiaq_control_init(). If either fails, snd_probe() calls snd_card_free(), which frees the device state but leaves the input device registered: card_free() only clears the pointer, and the input device is unregistered from snd_disconnect() alone. Reading its "uevent" attribute afterwards dereferences freed memory: BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in string+0x4a9/0x4f0 Read of size 1 at addr ffff8880208f5043 by task caiaq/4967 add_uevent_var+0x183/0x3a0 input_dev_uevent+0x162/0x900 dev_uevent+0x2f1/0x870 uevent_show+0x1ca/0x3a0 ... Unregister the input device on the probe error path, as snd_disconnect() does. snd_usb_caiaq_input_disconnect() is a no-op when no input device was registered. Reproduced with a raw-gadget Audio Kontrol 1 and a temporary hack that makes snd_usb_caiaq_control_init() fail.

Where it lives

The fix touches these files. If the subsystem is one you do not use, the practical exposure is lower, though the package is still the vulnerable one.

sound/usb/caiaq/device.c

What this is

NATIVE INSTRUMENTS USB SOUND INTERFACE DRIVERMAINTAINERS section matched on sound/usb/caiaq/ · linux-sound@vger.kernel.org · Maintained

Kernel module

snd_usb_caiaq

Check it on the machine

grep -wE 'CONFIG_SND|CONFIG_SND_USB_CAIAQ' /boot/config-$(uname -r)

Reads the booted kernel's own configuration, on the machine and nowhere else. =y is built in, =m is a module, and an is not set line means the code is not there.

lsmod | grep -w snd_usb_caiaq

Prints a line if that module is loaded right now, and nothing if it is not. One that is not loaded can still be loaded later by anything that needs it.

Show whether Debian builds this, per release

Debian builds this, but not on every flavour. At least one release below builds the code on some of its kernel flavours and not on others, so the answer depends on the architecture and flavour installed.

• bookworm, trixie, forky, sidMnot built on amd64/cloud-amd64, arm64/cloud-arm64

M

a module where it is built at all; some flavours do not build it

Build switches

CONFIG_SND, CONFIG_SND_USB_CAIAQ

Reads as

all on means the file is compiled; any one off means it is not.

From the configuration Debian publishes for every kernel flavour it builds. It covers only the architectures Debian ships a linux-config package for, and nothing about a kernel you built yourself. Debian's own status above stays authoritative about the source package.MAINTAINERS kbuild Makefiles Debian linux-config packages

Signals

Published

2026-10-18 (today)source

CVSS

no vector published, unrated

Attack vector

not published

EPSS

not scored

CISA KEV

not listedthe KEV catalogue

Debian urgency

not yet assignedsource

Subsystem

sound/usb

Upstream fixes

The versions the CNA records as introducing and fixing this, and the commit for each. source

Introduced	Fixed in	Commit
6.12.86	6.12.113	850810c12686
6.18.27	6.18.56	84727facd850
7.1	7.2.10	2e5a413cc2a4
7.1	7.3	0b7bd20f6379
5.10.258	0	0
5.15.209	0	0
6.1.175	0	0
6.6.140	0	0
7.0.4	0	0