# CVE-2024-38605: ALSA: core: Fix NULL module pointer assignment at card init

- Severity: CVSS 7.8 (High), CNA
- Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
- CISA SSVC: exploitation=none, automatable=yes, technicalImpact=total
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Published: 2024-06-19 · Updated: 2026-08-05

## Affected

- Linux: version range not reported
- Linux: 5.9

## Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ALSA: core: Fix NULL module pointer assignment at card init The commit 81033c6b584b ("ALSA: core: Warn on empty module") introduced a WARN_ON() for a NULL module pointer passed at snd_card object creation, and it also wraps the code around it with '#ifdef MODULE'. This works in most cases, but the devils are always in details. "MODULE" is defined when the target code (i.e. the sound core) is built as a module; but this doesn't mean that the caller is also built-in or not. Namely, when only the sound core is built-in (CONFIG_SND=y) while the driver is a module (CONFIG_SND_USB_AUDIO=m), the passed module pointer is ignored even if it's non-NULL, and card->module remains as NULL. This would result in the missing module reference up/down at the device open/close, leading to a race with the code execution after the module removal. For addressing the bug, move the assignment of card->module again out of ifdef. The WARN_ON() is still wrapped with ifdef because the module can be really NULL when all sound drivers are built-in. Note that we keep 'ifdef MODULE' for WARN_ON(), otherwise it would lead to a false-positive NULL module check. Admittedly it won't catch perfectly, i.e. no check is performed when CONFIG_SND=y. But, it's no real problem as it's only for debugging, and the condition is pretty rare.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on Linux kernel, no fixed version is listed yet; follow the vendor advisory per the references below.
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## Related

- Browse: [Linux kernel](https://cve.now/tech/linux-kernel.md) · [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md)

## References

- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/d7ff29a429b56f04783152ad7bbd7233b740e434
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/e7e0ca200772bdb2fdc6d43d32d341e87a36f811
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/e007476725730c1a68387b54b7629486d8a8301e
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/e644036a3e2b2c9b3eee3c61b5d31c2ca8b5ba92
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/c935e72139e6d523defd60fe875c01eb1f9ea5c5
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/6b8374ee2cabcf034faa34e69a855dc496a9ec12
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/39381fe7394e5eafac76e7e9367e7351138a29c1

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