High · published September 16, 2026
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
media: usbtv: keep device alive while ALSA card exists
The ALSA PCM callbacks store the driver state in pcm->private_data. An
open PCM file can outlive USB disconnect because usbtv_audio_free() uses
snd_card_free_when_closed(). The disconnect path can then drop the V4L2
device reference and free struct usbtv before ALSA releases the substream,
so a later close dereferences freed memory in snd_usbtv_pcm_close().
Take a V4L2 device reference for the ALSA card and drop it from the card
private_free callback. This keeps struct usbtv valid until ALSA has closed
the remaining files and freed the card.