* [CVE-2026-98744][LOW] ASoC: codecs: max98363: fix uninitialized stream_config->type
@ 2026-10-19 3:44 21% AL-KERNEL
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From: AL-KERNEL @ 2026-10-19 3:44 UTC (permalink / raw)
To: kernel-cve
CVE: CVE-2026-98744
Priority: LOW
AL-KERNEL base severity: LOW
KPANIC flag: NO
Patch: ASoC: codecs: max98363: fix uninitialized stream_config->type
Commit: 1c251426bb67de5cbfd3b5550bd5983736e8b9c7
Upstream patch: https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git/commit/?id=1c251426bb67de5cbfd3b5550bd5983736e8b9c7
Original CVE announcement: https://lore.kernel.org/linux-cve-announce/?q=CVE-2026-98744
Analysis date: Sun, 18 Oct 2026 23:44:47 -0400
ActionableScore: 1
ActionableScore lower bound: unknown
Actionable bucket: Ordinary Moderate / Low-like
Manual review required: NO
Summary:
An uninitialized MAX98363 SoundWire stream type can propagate a garbage configuration value during local PCM setup and cause device-local stream failure, but no kernel memory corruption or security-boundary bypass is established.
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ABOUT THIS REPORT
======================================================================
The original Linux kernel CVE announcement for CVE-2026-98744 is available here:
https://lore.kernel.org/linux-cve-announce/?q=CVE-2026-98744
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-2026-98744 LOW https://www.kernelcve.org/list/?q=CVE-2026-98744 CHECK WITH IMPACT FROM ORIG NN LOW | AEGIS IMPACT LOW AEGIS_AS=0 LEGACY=LOW RESULT=SAME (final reconciliation agrees; DECISION: both LOW) 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-457;CWE-908;CWE-665;Other CVSS 'AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L';BEST CVSS score: '3.3';DESCR 'An uninitialized sdw_stream_config structure in the MAX98363 codec driver can pass a garbage type value to sdw_stream_add_slave. The value is later copied into stream type by sdw_config_stream and may cause an invalid SoundWire stream configuration instead of the expected SDW_STREAM_PCM type. A local process that can open and configure the affected ALSA PCM device may reach this path during audio stream setup. For the CVSS the PR:L value is used because local execution and permission to access the audio device are required, while full administrative privileges are not normally necessary. The issue is not network reachable and requires compatible MAX98363 SoundWire hardware. The supported impact is limited loss of audio availability or stream setup failure. No concrete information disclosure, out of bounds access, use after free, or arbitrary write primitive is established. Automated impact decision path. The original SimpleNet classifier selected LOW. The primary LLM estimated paranoid CVSS 3.3 and the production ActionableScore returned 1 with recommendation Ordinary Moderate / Low-like. The production rules then evaluated CVSS thresholds and ActionableScore thresholds. No severity changing production threshold or specialist override was recorded. The legacy KP specialist has no review artifact for this run. The legacy FD or DH downgrade specialist has no review artifact for this run. The independent weaker Aegis shadow evaluated CVSS 0.0 and ActionableScore 0 with primitive class NONE and manual review NO. Its independently reconciled impact was LOW. The shadow agreed with the final production impact and aggregation did not change that impact. The final reported impact is LOW.';NO MANUAL CHECK; ,and ActionableScore result is Ordinary Moderate / Low-like (with actual score 1) MAYBE SIMPLEFIX HARDWARE - - checked
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ACTIONABLESCORE ANALYSIS
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ActionableScore=1
PrimitiveClass=CLASS_C
RealUAF=NO
HostAdminRequired=NO
NamespaceScopedPrivilege=NO
ImportantCandidate=NO
ManualReview=NO
AutoDowngradeAllowed=YES
RequiresHostUID0=NO
AuthorizationDecisionBypass=NO
ProtectedResourceImpact=NONE
B4PendingReview=NO
B4PendingConfirmed=NO
1. ActionableScore
* Raw conservative score: 1
* Conservative score: 1
* Raw paranoid score: 1
* Paranoid score: 1
* No floor or cap was applied.
* Final recommended bucket: **Ordinary Moderate / Low-like**::
2. Signal breakdown
Positive signals:
* +1 Local below-host-admin trigger. A process permitted to open the affected ALSA PCM device can reach `max98363_sdw_dai_hw_params()` during stream configuration.
* +0 Invalid-state consumption. The uninitialized `stream_config.type` value is copied into `stream->type`, but this establishes only an invalid configuration value rather than memory corruption.
Negative signals:
* No numeric hardware penalty. Compatible MAX98363 SoundWire hardware is required, but the evidence does not establish that it is rare enough for a penalty.
* No numeric privilege penalty. ALSA PCM stream configuration does not inherently require host-administrator powers when device access has been granted.
Important non-awarded signals:
* No OOB read or write, UAF, refcount error, shared-backing modification, authorization bypass, or arbitrary write is established.
* No attacker control over the garbage stack value, write target, or payload is established.
* No kernel panic or host-wide denial of service is demonstrated. Failure appears limited to SoundWire or audio stream configuration.
* No confidentiality or integrity point is awarded because the uninitialized value remains internal and no disclosure or protected-state modification is shown.
* V33 does not apply because attacker-influenced corruption of active structured state is not established.
* B5-R does not apply because there is no heap OOB write, retry-accumulated offset, or later consumption of corrupted heap state.
* B3-PENDING does not apply because there is no shared or file-backed storage write.
* B4-PENDING does not apply because no authorization guard changes from DENY to ALLOW.
3. Reachability analysis
A local process with permission to use the affected ALSA PCM device can invoke hardware parameter setup and reach the vulnerable codec callback. This is below host-admin privilege in normal ALSA access models and does not require host UID 0.
The path requires a system using the MAX98363 SoundWire codec and an attempted PCM stream setup. There is no network trigger, namespace capability path, sysctl prerequisite, race, or retry sequence. Namespace-scoped privilege is not relevant to the operation.
4. Primitive and severity interpretation
The exact defect is an uninitialized stack structure field. `stream_config.type` can contain residual stack data, and `sdw_config_stream()` later copies that ordinary scalar value into `stream->type`.
The field belongs to active stream configuration, but the value is not shown to control a pointer, length, index, allocation size, callback, authorization decision, or memory boundary. The patch does not establish a memory-safety primitive. The appropriate classification is CLASS_C invalid-state behavior rather than Class A or Class B corruption.
The demonstrated technical consequence is selection of an unintended SoundWire stream type. A stream setup failure or device-local audio malfunction is plausible. Kernel memory corruption, host panic, information disclosure, privilege escalation, and persistent integrity impact are unsupported.
ImportantCandidate is NO because no Important-preserving primitive or unresolved trust-boundary chain exists. AutoDowngradeAllowed is YES because the defect is a constrained device-configuration error without memory corruption, lifetime violation, or authorization bypass.
5. One-sentence report phrase
An uninitialized MAX98363 SoundWire stream type can propagate a garbage configuration value during local PCM setup and cause device-local stream failure, but no kernel memory corruption or security-boundary bypass is established.
6. Manual review recommendation
NO MANUAL CHECK NEEDED
The one-line zero initialization corrects a constrained uninitialized-value defect, and the supplied evidence does not establish a memory-safety, authorization, shared-backing, or cross-boundary primitive.
7. Call-site confidence
Call-site confidence: medium
======================================================================
UPSTREAM PATCH SUMMARY
======================================================================
Patch: ASoC: codecs: max98363: fix uninitialized stream_config->type
Commit: 1c251426bb67de5cbfd3b5550bd5983736e8b9c7
Upstream URL: https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git/commit/?id=1c251426bb67de5cbfd3b5550bd5983736e8b9c7
Commit description:
stream_config is not initialized before being passed to
sdw_stream_add_slave(). The type field may contain garbage and is
later copied to stream->type by sdw_config_stream().
Zero-initialize stream_config so type defaults to SDW_STREAM_PCM.
Fixes: 18c0af9 ("ASoC: max98363: add soundwire amplifier driver")
Cc: [email protected]
Signed-off-by: Jiangshan Yi <[email protected]>
Link: https://patch.msgid.link/[email protected]
Signed-off-by: Mark Brown <[email protected]>
Signed-off-by: Greg Kroah-Hartman <[email protected]>
Changed files:
sound/soc/codecs/max98363.c
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=1c251426bb67de5cbfd3b5550bd5983736e8b9c7
======================================================================
DETAILED REPORT METHODOLOGY
======================================================================
The original Linux kernel CVE announcement for CVE-2026-98744 can be found here:
https://lore.kernel.org/linux-cve-announce/?q=CVE-2026-98744
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:H/PR:L/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 [email protected] (and both
send reply to CVE record itself too and see "reply" button below for howto reply).
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