CVE-2026-74278
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ALSA: seq: Fix kernel heap address leak in bounce_error_event() The comment above bounce_error_event() documents that user clients should receive SNDRV_SEQ_EVENT_BOUNCE with the original event embedded as variable-length data, while kernel clients should receive SNDRV_SEQ_EVENT_KERNEL_ERROR with a quoted kernel pointer. However, the implementation unconditionally uses SNDRV_SEQ_EVENT_KERNEL_ERROR with data.quote.event set to the raw struct snd_seq_event pointer for all clients. When a bounce error event is delivered to a USER_CLIENT via snd_seq_read(), the kernel heap address in data.quote.event is exposed to userspace through copy_to_user() in the fixed-length branch. This is a distinct leak path from the one addressed by commit 705dd6dcbc0e ("ALSA: seq: Clear variable event pointer on read"), which sanitizes data.ext.ptr in the variable-length branch of snd_seq_read(). The bounce_error_event() leak uses fixed-length events that take the else branch where no sanitization occurs. Differentiate the bounce event by client type. For USER_CLIENT, send SNDRV_SEQ_EVENT_BOUNCE with SNDRV_SEQ_EVENT_LENGTH_VARIABLE and data.ext pointing to the original event. The variable-length path in snd_seq_event_dup() copies the event data into chained cells, and snd_seq_expand_var_event() copies only the content -- never the pointer -- to userspace. For KERNEL_CLIENT, keep the existing SNDRV_SEQ_EVENT_KERNEL_ERROR behavior with the quoted pointer.
Affected versions
Linux kernel versions
2.6.12
and later are affected. Fixed in
6.12.97,
6.18.40,
7.1.5,
7.2-rc1
and their respective stable series.
References
4 totalFrequently asked questions
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What is CVE-2026-74278?
CVE-2026-74278 is a unscored severity Linux kernel vulnerability . It affects Linux kernel versions from 2.6.12 onward and has been patched in 6.12.97, 6.18.40, 7.1.5 and others. CVE-2026-74278 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
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Is there a patch available for CVE-2026-74278?
Yes. CVE-2026-74278 has been patched. Fixed versions include 6.12.97, 6.18.40, 7.1.5 and others. If you are running Linux kernel 2.6.12 or later up to the fix versions, apply the relevant patch for your kernel branch.
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Is CVE-2026-74278 actively exploited?
No. CVE-2026-74278 has not been confirmed as actively exploited. It is not listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog.