Use-after-free in Linux kernel - CVE-2026-72443
Published: August 15, 2026
Vulnerability identifier: #VU142992
CSH Severity: Low
CVSS v4: 6.8 [CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N]
CVE-ID: CVE-2026-72443
CWE-ID: CWE-416
Exploitation vector: Local access
Exploit availability:
No public exploit available
Vulnerability details
The vulnerability allows a local user to cause a denial of service.
The vulnerability exists due to a use-after-free in the ALSA usb-audio MIDI 2.0 endpoint handling code when freeing endpoints after a later setup failure while submitted input URBs can still complete. A local user can trigger the vulnerable create-error path to cause a denial of service.
The issue occurs because a completion handler may dereference freed endpoint state or attempt to resubmit from a stale endpoint after URBs were started.
Affected software
Linux kernel
Ubuntu
linux-gcp-7.0 (Ubuntu package)
linux-azure-7.0 (Ubuntu package)
Ubuntu
linux-gcp-7.0 (Ubuntu package)
linux-azure-7.0 (Ubuntu package)
How to mitigate CVE-2026-72443
Install security update from vendor's repository.
Linux kernel - update to 7.0 rc3
linux-gcp-7.0 (Ubuntu package) - addressed in versions 7.0.0-38.38~24.04.4, 7.0.0-1013.13~24.04.1, 7.0.0-1014.14~24.04.1
linux-azure-7.0 (Ubuntu package) - addressed in versions 7.0.0-1016.16~24.04.1, 7.0.0-1017.17~24.04.1
linux-gcp-7.0 (Ubuntu package) - addressed in versions 7.0.0-38.38~24.04.4, 7.0.0-1013.13~24.04.1, 7.0.0-1014.14~24.04.1
linux-azure-7.0 (Ubuntu package) - addressed in versions 7.0.0-1016.16~24.04.1, 7.0.0-1017.17~24.04.1
External References
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/3d961032a6e58fa485b3a4c0fe0f649334d887de
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/4c16176fc11a61b7545464cb47c98b0c8a055fcb
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/68286258698e15fe75073fb8d017003f8e493db1
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/bcdd5a7363bdd287253c406a9c0205f5722058e7
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/f199c8a8bdd54296d3458777e70fe82a78bd9817