Security Resilience

CVE-2026-31587

Memory Safety in Linux Kernel 5.16 – 6.6.136

Published
24 April 2026
Modified
01 June 2026
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 7.8
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS Score 0.0017 6th percentile
Risk Priority 55 floored blend · peak EPSS

CVSS and EPSS are reproduced from their sources (NVD, FIRST EPSS). Risk Priority is our own derived reading, not an NVD score.

Summary

CVE-2026-31587 is a high-severity Use After Free (CWE-416) vulnerability in Linux Linux Kernel. Its CVSS base score is 7.8 (High).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploitation for Client Execution (T1203); ranked at the 6th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to SA-11 (Developer Testing and Evaluation) and SA-8 (Security and Privacy Engineering Principles) — see the control section below for these in your framework.

Deeper analysis AI-assisted summary

Synthesised by an AI model from the NVD description and linked references — a reading aid, not an authoritative source.

CVE-2026-31587 is a use-after-free vulnerability (CWE-416) in the Linux kernel's ASoC (ALSA System on Chip) subsystem, specifically the Qualcomm q6apm driver. The issue arises when the q6apm component dynamically registers DAI (Digital Audio Interface) elements from ASoC topology using device-managed allocation APIs. This leads to incorrect free ordering, where DAIs are freed while the component still holds references to them, as detected by KASAN in snd_soc_del_component_unlocked during component cleanup triggered by APR/PDR notifier workqueues. The vulnerability affects Linux kernels on Qualcomm platforms, with a reported instance on Lenovo hardware running BIOS N42ET57W.

A local attacker with low privileges (AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N) can exploit this vulnerability, as indicated by its CVSS v3.1 base score of 7.8. Exploitation occurs during device unbinding or removal, such as in response to platform driver status changes via PDR notifiers, potentially allowing the attacker to trigger the use-after-free in kernel audio component handling. Successful exploitation could result in high-impact confidentiality, integrity, and availability violations (C:H/I:H/A:H), enabling kernel memory corruption, denial of service, or potential privilege escalation.

Mitigation is provided through upstream kernel patches available in the stable tree, including commits such as 30383b7780ffa140bc124de5b66cae7c84133dbb, 6ec1235fc941dac6c011b30ee01d9220ff87e0cd, 887632163b546a8944b46ef465f1d74e838b727a, a561a55b79a9c55f0443377f2d4dcf6149d057af, and b7412ed789ffb1e59c8d6f5ab6a6a718963c85e2. These patches resolve the issue by shifting q6apm component registration to the unmanaged version, ensuring DAI pointers are freed only after component removal. Security practitioners should apply these stable updates to affected kernels on Qualcomm-based systems.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ASoC: qcom: q6apm: move component registration to unmanaged version q6apm component registers dais dynamically from ASoC toplology, which are allocated using device managed version apis. Allocating both component and dynamic…

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dais using managed version could lead to incorrect free ordering, dai will be freed while component still holding references to it. Fix this issue by moving component to unmanged version so that the dai pointers are only freeded after the component is removed. ================================================================== BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in snd_soc_del_component_unlocked+0x3d4/0x400 [snd_soc_core] Read of size 8 at addr ffff00084493a6e8 by task kworker/u48:0/3426 Tainted: [W]=WARN Hardware name: LENOVO 21N2ZC5PUS/21N2ZC5PUS, BIOS N42ET57W (1.31 ) 08/08/2024 Workqueue: pdr_notifier_wq pdr_notifier_work [pdr_interface] Call trace: show_stack+0x28/0x7c (C) dump_stack_lvl+0x60/0x80 print_report+0x160/0x4b4 kasan_report+0xac/0xfc __asan_report_load8_noabort+0x20/0x34 snd_soc_del_component_unlocked+0x3d4/0x400 [snd_soc_core] snd_soc_unregister_component_by_driver+0x50/0x88 [snd_soc_core] devm_component_release+0x30/0x5c [snd_soc_core] devres_release_all+0x13c/0x210 device_unbind_cleanup+0x20/0x190 device_release_driver_internal+0x350/0x468 device_release_driver+0x18/0x30 bus_remove_device+0x1a0/0x35c device_del+0x314/0x7f0 device_unregister+0x20/0xbc apr_remove_device+0x5c/0x7c [apr] device_for_each_child+0xd8/0x160 apr_pd_status+0x7c/0xa8 [apr] pdr_notifier_work+0x114/0x240 [pdr_interface] process_one_work+0x500/0xb70 worker_thread+0x630/0xfb0 kthread+0x370/0x6c0 ret_from_fork+0x10/0x20 Allocated by task 77: kasan_save_stack+0x40/0x68 kasan_save_track+0x20/0x40 kasan_save_alloc_info+0x44/0x58 __kasan_kmalloc+0xbc/0xdc __kmalloc_node_track_caller_noprof+0x1f4/0x620 devm_kmalloc+0x7c/0x1c8 snd_soc_register_dai+0x50/0x4f0 [snd_soc_core] soc_tplg_pcm_elems_load+0x55c/0x1eb8 [snd_soc_core] snd_soc_tplg_component_load+0x4f8/0xb60 [snd_soc_core] audioreach_tplg_init+0x124/0x1fc [snd_q6apm] q6apm_audio_probe+0x10/0x1c [snd_q6apm] snd_soc_component_probe+0x5c/0x118 [snd_soc_core] soc_probe_component+0x44c/0xaf0 [snd_soc_core] snd_soc_bind_card+0xad0/0x2370 [snd_soc_core] snd_soc_register_card+0x3b0/0x4c0 [snd_soc_core] devm_snd_soc_register_card+0x50/0xc8 [snd_soc_core] x1e80100_platform_probe+0x208/0x368 [snd_soc_x1e80100] platform_probe+0xc0/0x188 really_probe+0x188/0x804 __driver_probe_device+0x158/0x358 driver_probe_device+0x60/0x190 __device_attach_driver+0x16c/0x2a8 bus_for_each_drv+0x100/0x194 __device_attach+0x174/0x380 device_initial_probe+0x14/0x20 bus_probe_device+0x124/0x154 deferred_probe_work_func+0x140/0x220 process_one_work+0x500/0xb70 worker_thread+0x630/0xfb0 kthread+0x370/0x6c0 ret_from_fork+0x10/0x20 Freed by task 3426: kasan_save_stack+0x40/0x68 kasan_save_track+0x20/0x40 __kasan_save_free_info+0x4c/0x80 __kasan_slab_free+0x78/0xa0 kfree+0x100/0x4a4 devres_release_all+0x144/0x210 device_unbind_cleanup+0x20/0x190 device_release_driver_internal+0x350/0x468 device_release_driver+0x18/0x30 bus_remove_device+0x1a0/0x35c device_del+0x314/0x7f0 device_unregister+0x20/0xbc apr_remove_device+0x5c/0x7c [apr] device_for_each_child+0xd8/0x160 apr_pd_status+0x7c/0xa8 [apr] pdr_notifier_work+0x114/0x240 [pdr_interface] process_one_work+0x500/0xb70 worker_thread+0x630/0xfb0 kthread+0x370/0x6c0 ret_from_fork+0x10/0x20

CWE(s)

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1203 Exploitation for Client Execution Execution
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in client applications to execute code.
T1068 Exploitation for Privilege Escalation Privilege Escalation
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in an attempt to elevate privileges.
T1190 Exploit Public-Facing Application Initial Access
Adversaries may attempt to exploit a weakness in an Internet-facing host or system to initially access a network.
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

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Affected Assets

linux
linux kernel
5.16 — 6.6.136 · 6.7 — 6.12.83 · 6.13 — 6.18.24

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)

—

Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

—

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)
  • 3 hardening rules · 3 OS baselines
Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)
  • V1.4.3

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

Developer testing and evaluation can discover use-after-free bugs through dynamic analysis or fuzzing.

Engineering principles can require memory-safe constructs or languages that structurally avoid introducing use-after-free.

Process isolation confines the blast radius of use-after-free memory corruption to a single execution domain.

Memory protection controls limit exploitation impact by blocking unauthorized code execution from dangling pointers.

Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

PR.PS-06 mostly match
blocks

Secure SDLC practices directly incorporate memory-safety tooling and reviews that prevent most use-after-free defects.

ID.RA-01 partial match
blocks

Vulnerability identification processes can discover use-after-free issues via scanning or analysis but do not prevent their introduction.

PR.PS-02 partial match
blocks

Routine patching removes known use-after-free instances after they have been introduced in released software.

Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

finds

Security testing in development can detect use-after-free bugs before release.

prevents

Secure coding standards directly prescribe avoidance of use-after-free patterns.

Hardening callouts derived

Configuration rules from DISA STIG baselines that bear on weaknesses of the type cited by this CVE. Each rule is shown with the relationship its mapping actually records, against the CWE it was authored against. Derived via CVE→CWE over `controls_xwalks` (higher-evidence rows only; rows rated `none` are excluded).

Oracle Linux 8 (1 rule)
  • V-248592 OL 8 must clear memory when it is freed to prevent use-after-free attacks. blocks CWE-416
RHEL 8 (1 rule)
  • V-230279 RHEL 8 must clear memory when it is freed to prevent use-after-free attacks. blocks CWE-416
RHEL 9 (1 rule)
  • V-257794 RHEL 9 must clear memory when it is freed to prevent use-after-free attacks. blocks CWE-416

References