CVE-2026-68201

A flaw was found in the ALSA (Advanced Linux Sound Architecture) timer component of the Linux kernel. When a master timer instance is closed, it does not properly ensure that all associated slave timer callbacks have finished executing before detaching them. This oversight can lead to a use-after-free vulnerability, where a freed memory region is accessed, potentially causing system instability, crashes, or allowing an attacker to execute arbitrary code.

This vulnerability is rated as an Important severity impact because an authenticated local user can exploit this use-after-free condition to corrupt kernel memory, potentially leading to local privilege escalation or a complete system denial of service. In typical Red Hat Enterprise Linux server installations, sound hardware is not configured and audio services remain unused, which substantially restricts practical exposure for headless infrastructure. However, on systems configured with active desktop sessions or where unprivileged users are granted direct access to sound device nodes, the flaw can be triggered without elevated administrative privileges.

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 for this issue is either not available or the currently available options do not meet the Red Hat Product Security criteria comprising ease of use and deployment, applicability to widespread installation base, or stability.