From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 From: AL-KERNEL To: kernel-cve@kernelcve.org Subject: [CVE-2026-98053][MODERATE REGULAR] ASoC: Intel: avs: Refactor and fix init_config access [ Upstream Date: Sat, 26 Sep 2026 15:24:10 -0400 Message-ID: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit X-AL-KERNEL-CVE: CVE-2026-98053 X-AL-KERNEL-Priority: MODERATE REGULAR X-AL-KERNEL-Severity: MODERATE REGULAR X-AL-KERNEL-Base-Severity: MODERATE X-AL-KERNEL-KPANIC: NO X-AL-KERNEL-ActionableScore: 2 X-AL-KERNEL-ActionableScore-Lower: unknown X-AL-KERNEL-Commit: 75bd5ea9c858d89fb8862f23afb00783bf02cd7a List-Id: CVE: CVE-2026-98053 Priority: MODERATE REGULAR AL-KERNEL base severity: MODERATE KPANIC flag: NO Patch: ASoC: Intel: avs: Refactor and fix init_config access [ Upstream Commit: 75bd5ea9c858d89fb8862f23afb00783bf02cd7a Upstream patch: https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git/commit/?id=75bd5ea9c858d89fb8862f23afb00783bf02cd7a Original CVE announcement: https://lore.kernel.org/linux-cve-announce/?q=CVE-2026-98053 Analysis date: Sat, 26 Sep 2026 15:24:10 -0400 ActionableScore: 2 ActionableScore lower bound: unknown Actionable bucket: Ordinary Moderate Manual review required: NO Summary: No one-sentence report phrase was found. ====================================================================== ABOUT THIS REPORT ====================================================================== The original Linux kernel CVE announcement for CVE-2026-98053 is available here: https://lore.kernel.org/linux-cve-announce/?q=CVE-2026-98053 The original announcement does not normally provide a security severity estimate, CVSS assessment, or enough information to determine whether the reported kernel bug represents a practically relevant security issue. This report was generated by AL-KERNEL, an AI-assisted Linux kernel vulnerability analysis system developed by Alexander Larkin. It combines an autonomous classifier with LLM-assisted technical analysis and a separate ActionableScore mechanism. The purpose of this report is to prioritize Linux kernel CVEs before manual review, identify cases that require prompt investigation, and support automatic closure of issues that are unlikely to have meaningful security impact. Published priority for this report: MODERATE REGULAR Manual review required: NO A detailed explanation of the methodology and priority rules is included at the end of this message. ====================================================================== AL-KERNEL CLASSIFICATION RESULT ====================================================================== CVE-2026-98053 MODERATE https://www.kernelcve.org/list/?q=CVE-2026-98053 CHECK WITH IMPACT FROM ORIG NN MODERATE Maybe valid. Check manually. Hints by AL-KERNEL: The best (paranoid) CVSS is 'AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:H';CWE-125;*CWE-20;CWE-129;Other CVSS 'AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H';BEST CVSS score: '5.1';DESCR 'An out of bounds access in the Intel AVS topology handling path occurs because init configuration IDs are used as indexes into the init_configs array without verifying that the ID is below num_init_configs. A malformed AVS topology can cause the kernel to interpret memory beyond the init_configs array as an init configuration and later dereference invalid data while sending module configuration to the DSP. This can cause a kernel crash and may expose limited data through an invalid read in a worst case interpretation. For the CVSS the PR:H because reliable triggering normally requires control over the AVS topology firmware asset which is typically restricted to administrators. The issue is not directly network reachable. Impact is at least local denial of service via kernel crash. The out of bounds read should be manually reviewed for possible limited confidentiality impact but the patch does not demonstrate a kernel write primitive or a plausible privilege escalation path. YES REQUIRES MANUAL CHECK';YES REQUIRES MANUAL CHECK; ,and ActionableScore result is Ordinary Moderate (with actual score 2) YES WRITE OOB INIT NOMEMCHK HARDWARE DECREASED_TO_MODERATE_REGULAR_FROM_MODERATE7_BASED_ON_GUESSCVSS_AND_CIANNH YES NO checked ====================================================================== ACTIONABLESCORE ANALYSIS ====================================================================== ActionableScore=2 PrimitiveClass=CLASS_C RealUAF=NO HostAdminRequired=UNKNOWN NamespaceScopedPrivilege=UNKNOWN ImportantCandidate=NO ManualReview=RECOMMENDED AutoDowngradeAllowed=YES 1. ActionableScore * Raw conservative score: 2 * Conservative score: 2 * Raw paranoid score: 2 * Paranoid score: 2 * Final recommended bucket: **Ordinary Moderate**:: 2. Signal breakdown * +1 Weak indirect corruption candidate. A topology supplied init configuration ID can index beyond the init_configs array. The resulting memory is interpreted as struct avs_tplg_init_config and its fields are subsequently consumed. * +1 Reliable kernel crash or strong DoS. An out of bounds config structure can supply invalid length or data values, causing an invalid kernel dereference while initial configuration data is sent to the DSP. * No Local unprivileged trigger bonus. The supplied patch does not establish that an ordinary user can provide or replace the AVS topology used by the driver. * No remote reachability bonus. The topology is firmware mediated input and no network path is established. * No confidentiality bonus. The patch establishes an internal out of bounds read, but does not show bytes returned to userspace, network, DSP visible output, or another disclosure path. * No integrity bonus. No kernel write, attacker directed target, object replacement, ownership violation, or security sensitive state modification is established. * No strong exploitation leverage. The invalid index can lead to an invalid structured interpretation and crash, but controlled reclamation, arbitrary read or write, callback control, and privilege escalation are not demonstrated. * No host admin penalty. Control of the topology firmware may be administrator restricted in common deployments, but the supplied evidence does not positively establish the complete privilege boundary. * No niche subsystem penalty. Intel AVS is hardware specific, but no evidence establishes rare physical access as a material trigger prerequisite. 3. Reachability analysis The triggering input is an Intel AVS topology containing init configuration IDs. The vulnerable path is reached while AVS module topology data is parsed and initial module configurations are sent to the DSP. The supplied evidence does not establish whether an attacker below host administrator privilege can load, replace, or otherwise influence the relevant topology asset. It also does not establish that host administrator privilege is always required. Therefore HostAdminRequired is UNKNOWN rather than YES or NO. No network namespace, user namespace, or namespace scoped capability path is shown. The complete trigger cannot be considered namespace scoped. Firmware mediation is material because the malformed data originates from AVS topology input rather than directly from an ordinary userspace ioctl or network packet. No race is involved. No special timing, repeated lifetime operation, DMA ownership violation, or hardware generated post free access is established. 4. Primitive and severity interpretation The concrete primitive is an unchecked array index. A config ID from config_ids is used as an index into init_configs even though num_config_ids and num_init_configs are independent bounds. An ID greater than or equal to num_init_configs can make the kernel interpret adjacent memory as an AVS init configuration. This is not a UAF, double free, stale lifetime reference, refcount mutation, or active object replacement. It is also not an out of bounds write. The subsequent use of fields such as length and data can produce an invalid pointer dereference and kernel crash, but no independently useful corruption primitive is established. The appropriate classification is CLASS_C because demonstrated behavior is invalid state processing and DoS. The out of bounds read is relevant enough for manual review because the affected fields include a pointer and length consumed in DSP module configuration processing. However, no user visible disclosure, controlled target, arbitrary write, or privilege escalation mechanism is demonstrated. ImportantCandidate is NO because there is no concrete Class A or unresolved active lifetime corruption primitive. AutoDowngradeAllowed is YES because the established impact is constrained crash or DoS behavior without demonstrated reuse, write, disclosure, or security boundary bypass. Likely operational severity is ordinary Moderate or lower priority DoS, subject to confirmation of topology provenance in the evaluated distribution. 5. One-sentence report phrase A malformed Intel AVS topology can use an unchecked init configuration ID to access memory beyond the init_configs array and cause a kernel crash when invalid configuration fields are later processed. 6. Manual review recommendation MANUAL CHECK RECOMMENDED Confirm whether non administrator actors can supply AVS topology data in the evaluated product and inspect the downstream DSP configuration send path for any user visible disclosure or write behavior. 7. Call-site confidence Call-site confidence: medium ====================================================================== UPSTREAM PATCH SUMMARY ====================================================================== Patch: ASoC: Intel: avs: Refactor and fix init_config access [ Upstream Commit: 75bd5ea9c858d89fb8862f23afb00783bf02cd7a Upstream URL: https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git/commit/?id=75bd5ea9c858d89fb8862f23afb00783bf02cd7a Changed files: sound/soc/intel/avs/path.c sound/soc/intel/avs/topology.c sound/soc/intel/avs/topology.h Diff excerpt: Not included in this email. See the upstream URL for the full patch. Full patch: https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git/commit/?id=75bd5ea9c858d89fb8862f23afb00783bf02cd7a ====================================================================== DETAILED REPORT METHODOLOGY ====================================================================== The original Linux kernel CVE announcement for CVE-2026-98053 can be found here: https://lore.kernel.org/linux-cve-announce/?q=CVE-2026-98053 The original CVE announcement normally does not include a security-level estimate. In particular, it may not contain a CVSS assessment, an impact level, or enough information to determine whether the reported bug is a practically relevant security issue. One purpose of this parallel CVE list is to provide that missing technical and prioritization information. The original goal of the AL-KERNEL project was to prioritize Linux kernel CVE analysis automatically before manual review. The system can also help identify non-security issues that may be suitable for automatic closure. This report was generated by AL-KERNEL, an AI-assisted Linux kernel vulnerability analysis system developed by Alexander Larkin. The first analysis stage combines an autonomous classifier with additional LLM-based analysis. The autonomous classifier runs locally on a CPU and is based on a backpropagation neural network. Together, these mechanisms produce a technical vulnerability description, identify likely weakness types, estimate CVSS severity, and provide input for ActionableScore. Two CVSS estimates are retained because incomplete kernel vulnerability information often permits more than one defensible interpretation: Conservative CVSS vector: AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H The Best / paranoid CVSS vector: AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:H The Best / paranoid CVSS score: 5.1 The conservative vector represents a lower-impact interpretation. The Best/paranoid vector intentionally represents a plausible upper-bound interpretation and should not automatically be treated as demonstrated real-world impact. CVSS may also need to be adjusted for a particular Linux deployment, because actual reachability, privileges, enabled kernel configuration, hardware, namespaces, exposed device nodes, and other environmental conditions can differ significantly between systems. A separate ActionableScore mechanism evaluates practical remediation urgency. Its analysis may include reachability, attack prerequisites, subsystem exposure, memory-corruption characteristics, denial-of-service reliability, and possible confidentiality, integrity, or privilege-escalation impact. Conservative ActionableScore: unknown Paranoid ActionableScore: 2 The final base severity is taken directly from the second tab-separated field of the AL-KERNEL classification result. ActionableScore does not replace or independently override that final AL-KERNEL decision, and if ActionableScore adjusted impact level of ALKERNEL, then you would see self-readable flags above like INCREASED_TO_HIGH_BASED_ON_ACTIONABLESCOREHIGHEREQTHAN7. For an AL-KERNEL result of MODERATE, this report uses the following additional presentation split: ActionableScore below 5 -> MODERATE REGULAR ActionableScore 5 or more -> MODERATE 7.0 The distinction between MODERATE REGULAR and MODERATE 7.0 makes it possible to identify Moderate issues that should receive manual analysis and fixes before lower-priority MODERATE REGULAR issues. In many cases, MODERATE REGULAR fixes may wait for a later rebase or routine update. There is one override in which MODERATE REGULAR becomes MODERATE 7.0 even when the ActionableScore is below 5. When the AL-KERNEL result contains the KPANIC flag, a MODERATE result is always presented as MODERATE 7.0. The KPANIC flag selected with few regexps without usage of AI at all, so it helps to detect cases when Kernel Crash happens and similar (to filter False-Negative results from the LLM usage). KPANIC indicates that a reliable kernel crash, kernel panic, or similarly serious kernel availability impact was identified by the classification workflow. AL-KERNEL base severity for this report: MODERATE KPANIC detected for this report: NO Published priority for this report (same as in Subject): MODERATE REGULAR These results are intended to support engineering triage. They are machine-generated estimates, and cases marked for manual review should be validated by a human security engineer before final disposition. For more info read docs linked from here: https://kernelcve.org/ (and you can submit you own patch there to generate such a report for non-existant CVE-id yet). Note that in many cases this AI tool selects higher severity, than real is (means you can expect Importants instead of Moderate 7.0 or Moderates 7.0 instead of regular Moderates). If you see such cases, please use reply email interface to add additional manual analyses info to this particular CVE. And please, please, let me know when you see Lows instead of Importants or Important instead of Low (because particular for such cases I need to tune this AI tool to make it better for this one and next similar). My contact email for such notifications is alexanjelausa@gmail.com (and both send reply to CVE record itself too and see "reply" button below for howto reply).