CVE-2024-38605: Linux Kernel

High severity, CVSS 7.8. EPSS: 0.7% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days.

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.

Affected products

• Linux Linux Kernel: from 5.9, before 5.10.219 (fixed in 5.10.219); from 5.11, before 5.15.161 (fixed in 5.15.161); from 5.16, before 6.1.93 (fixed in 6.1.93); from 6.2, before 6.6.33 (fixed in 6.6.33); from 6.7, before 6.8.12 (fixed in 6.8.12); from 6.9, before 6.9.3 (fixed in 6.9.3)

Published 2024-06-19. Last modified 2026-08-04.