[CVE-2026-98054][LOW] ASoC: Intel: avs: Fix unbalanced module reference count [ Upstream

[CVE-2026-98054][LOW] ASoC: Intel: avs: Fix unbalanced module reference count [ Upstream

[AL-KERNEL]

CVE: CVE-2026-98054
Priority: LOW
AL-KERNEL base severity: LOW
KPANIC flag: NO
Patch: ASoC: Intel: avs: Fix unbalanced module reference count [ Upstream
Commit: 3fcf670f023d47e4eb970fb886ee562b5bdfbee7
Upstream patch: https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git/commit/?id=3fcf670f023d47e4eb970fb886ee562b5bdfbee7
Original CVE announcement: https://lore.kernel.org/linux-cve-announce/?q=CVE-2026-98054
Analysis date: Fri, 25 Sep 2026 07:56:21 -0400
ActionableScore: 1
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-2026-98054 is available here:
https://lore.kernel.org/linux-cve-announce/?q=CVE-2026-98054

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: LOW
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-2026-98054	LOW	https://www.kernelcve.org/list/?q=CVE-2026-98054 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:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L';*CWE-772;*CWE-664;Other CVSS 'AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L';BEST CVSS score: '3.3';DESCR 'A failed open of the Intel AVS debugfs trace interface can leak a module reference because try_module_get succeeds but later error paths do not release the reference. Repeated failed opens can keep the AVS driver module busy and prevent its unload or removal, causing limited local denial of service for the affected audio device. For the CVSS the PR:L rating in the paranoid score applies only where a low privileged user has delegated access to the relevant debugfs interface or driver control. In typical deployments debugfs access is restricted to administrators and PR:H is more appropriate. The issue is not network reachable. No memory corruption, information disclosure, or privilege escalation primitive is indicated.';NO MANUAL CHECK; ,and ActionableScore result is Ordinary Moderate (with actual score 1)	YES	INIT SIMPLEFIX HARDWARE DEBUGFS MEMORY  DECREASED_TO_MODERATE_REGULAR_FROM_MODERATE7_BASED_ON_GUESSCVSS DECREASED_TO_LOW_FROM_MODERATE_BASED_ON_ACTIONABLESCORELESSTHAN3	YES	NO	checked

======================================================================
ACTIONABLESCORE ANALYSIS
======================================================================

ActionableScore=1
PrimitiveClass=NONE
RealUAF=NO
HostAdminRequired=UNKNOWN
NamespaceScopedPrivilege=UNKNOWN
ImportantCandidate=NO
ManualReview=NO
AutoDowngradeAllowed=YES

1. ActionableScore

* Raw conservative score: 1
* Conservative score: 1
* Raw paranoid score: 1
* Paranoid score: 1
* Final recommended bucket: **Ordinary Moderate**::

No floor or cap applies.

2. Signal breakdown

* +1 Concrete persistent kernel resource/reference leak. `try_module_get()` successfully increments the AVS driver module reference count, while the pre-patch `EBUSY` and `kfifo_alloc()` failure paths return without the matching `module_put()`. This is a direct missing-release defect and is counted once.

Important non-awarded signals:

* No UAF or stale post-lifetime object use is established. The defect leaks a reference rather than dropping one too early.
* No repeated release/refcount mutation exists. There is no first `module_put()` followed by a second `module_put()` on a dangling module reference.
* No controlled reclaim, arbitrary write, object replacement, callback influence, or memory corruption is demonstrated.
* No reliable kernel crash or host-wide resource exhaustion is shown. The demonstrated consequence is that accumulated leaked module references can prevent driver module unload or removal.
* No confidentiality or integrity impact is established.
* No remote reachability is established.
* No privilege escalation or security-boundary bypass is established.
* No negative privilege penalty is applied because host-admin-equivalent access is not positively established from the supplied patch. The debugfs permission mode and creation context are not visible.

3. Reachability analysis

The vulnerable path is reached by opening the Intel AVS debugfs trace interface. A successful module reference acquisition followed by an `EBUSY` result because the trace FIFO is already initialized, or by a `kfifo_alloc()` failure, leaks one module reference.

The supplied patch does not show debugfs file permissions, the debugfs creation call site, or whether access is restricted to host root, delegated service accounts, or another actor. Therefore, HostAdminRequired is `UNKNOWN`, not `YES` or `NO`.

No namespace-specific capability check or complete namespace-scoped trigger chain is shown. NamespaceScopedPrivilege is `UNKNOWN`. The AVS driver and its debugfs interface must already exist, but the evidence does not establish a separate privileged setup requirement that should receive a scoring penalty.

This is an ordered error-path resource leak, not a race. Repeated failed opens may accumulate references if the interface is accessible, but the patch does not establish host-wide exhaustion, cross-container impact, or a stronger availability consequence.

4. Primitive and severity interpretation

The exact primitive is a persistent module-reference leak caused by missing `module_put()` cleanup after `try_module_get()` succeeds. This is a resource and lifetime-accounting defect, not a use-after-free, double release, refcount takeover, or stale structured-object operation.

The affected reference is a module ownership reference. The missing decrement keeps the AVS module busy and may prevent its unloading or removal. The patch does not establish a path where the module is freed while still used, nor a path where a stale module pointer is later dereferenced or mutated.

PrimitiveClass is `NONE` because no meaningful kernel corruption, authorization bypass, ownership violation, or post-lifetime active-object primitive is demonstrated. ImportantCandidate is `NO` because the practical effect is limited local availability impact on the AVS driver module. AutoDowngradeAllowed is `YES` because no unresolved corruption or boundary-bypass primitive remains.

Likely operational severity is Low or ordinary Moderate. Systems without the affected AVS debugfs interface are not exposed through this path.

5. One-sentence report phrase

A missing module_put call on Intel AVS debugfs trace open failure paths can leak module references and prevent the affected audio driver module from being unloaded.

6. Manual review recommendation

NO MANUAL CHECK NEEDED

The patch establishes a reference leak with limited driver unload impact and does not establish memory corruption, stale-object use, privilege escalation, or a security-boundary bypass.

7. Call-site confidence

Call-site confidence: medium

======================================================================
UPSTREAM PATCH SUMMARY
======================================================================

Patch: ASoC: Intel: avs: Fix unbalanced module reference count [ Upstream
Commit: 3fcf670f023d47e4eb970fb886ee562b5bdfbee7
Upstream URL: https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git/commit/?id=3fcf670f023d47e4eb970fb886ee562b5bdfbee7

Changed files:
  sound/soc/intel/avs/debugfs.c
  sound/soc.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=3fcf670f023d47e4eb970fb886ee562b5bdfbee7

======================================================================
DETAILED REPORT METHODOLOGY
======================================================================

The original Linux kernel CVE announcement for CVE-2026-98054 can be found here:
https://lore.kernel.org/linux-cve-announce/?q=CVE-2026-98054

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:L
  The Best / paranoid CVSS vector: AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L
  The Best / paranoid CVSS score: 3.3

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: 1

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: LOW
KPANIC detected for this report: NO
Published priority for this report (same as in Subject): LOW

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).