CVE-2019-15118
kernel: mishandling recursion in sound/usb/mixer.c leading to kernel stack exhaustion and crash
Severity
ModerateRed Hat Product Security
CVSS 3.0
Review impact separately from score.
Published · August 20, 2019
Updated · June 28, 2026
Description
A flaw was found in the sound mixer handling of the Linux kernel. An attacker with physical access able to insert a specially crafted USB device can cause a recursive loop which continues to consume the reserved stack space leading to a system panic. The highest threat from this vulnerability is to system availability.
CVSS score applicability
The CVSS score(s) listed for this vulnerability do not reflect the associated product's status, and are included for informational purposes to better understand the severity of this vulnerability.
Mitigation
As the snd_usb_audio module will be auto-loaded when a usb device is hot plugged, the module can be prevented by loading with the following instructions:
echo "install snd_usb_audio /bin/true" >> /etc/modprobe.d/disable-snd-usb-audio.conf
The system will need to be restarted if the modules are loaded. In most circumstances, the sound kernel modules will be unable to be unloaded while any programs are active and the device are in use."
If the system requires this module to work correctly, this mitigation may not be suitable.
If you need further assistance, see KCS article https://access.redhat.com/solutions/41278 or contact Red Hat Global Support Services.
CVSS / CWE
CVSS 3.0 · 6.5CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
CWE-400 · Uncontrolled Resource Consumption