* [CVE-2026-98502][LOW] HID: alps: unregister DualPoint Stick input device on remove [ Upstream
@ 2026-10-19 3:00 21% AL-KERNEL
0 siblings, 0 replies; 1+ results
From: AL-KERNEL @ 2026-10-19 3:00 UTC (permalink / raw)
To: kernel-cve
CVE: CVE-2026-98502
Priority: LOW
AL-KERNEL base severity: LOW
KPANIC flag: NO
Patch: HID: alps: unregister DualPoint Stick input device on remove [ Upstream
Commit: 1170ebfba562b3938ff7749b2e42e4420f19436d
Upstream patch: https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git/commit/?id=1170ebfba562b3938ff7749b2e42e4420f19436d
Original CVE announcement: https://lore.kernel.org/linux-cve-announce/?q=CVE-2026-98502
Analysis date: Sun, 18 Oct 2026 23:00:06 -0400
ActionableScore: 1
ActionableScore lower bound: unknown
Actionable bucket: Ordinary Moderate
Manual review required: NO
Summary:
The ALPS HID removal path fails to unregister a separately allocated DualPoint Stick input device, causing a persistent resource leak on each removal without evidence of UAF, memory corruption, privilege escalation, or immediate host-wide denial of service.
======================================================================
ABOUT THIS REPORT
======================================================================
The original Linux kernel CVE announcement for CVE-2026-98502 is available here:
https://lore.kernel.org/linux-cve-announce/?q=CVE-2026-98502
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-2026-98502 LOW https://www.kernelcve.org/list/?q=CVE-2026-98502 CHECK WITH IMPACT FROM ORIG NN LOW | AEGIS IMPACT LOW AEGIS_AS=1 LEGACY=LOW RESULT=SAME (final reconciliation agrees; DECISION: both LOW) Maybe valid. Check manually. Hints by AL-KERNEL: The best (paranoid) CVSS is 'AV:P/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H';*CWE-401;CWE-404;*CWE-772;Other CVSS 'AV:P/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L';BEST CVSS score: '4.6';DESCR 'The ALPS HID driver registers a separate DualPoint Stick input device that is not tracked in hdev inputs. The default removal path therefore does not unregister this object, causing a persistent input device and resource leak on every device removal. For the CVSS the PR:N value is used because an attacker with physical control of the HID device can trigger removal without privileges on the target system. The issue is not network reachable. The demonstrated impact is limited resource retention, with no supported UAF, out of bounds access, information disclosure, integrity violation, or privilege escalation primitive. Repeated automated reconnect and removal cycles from a programmable device could theoretically increase availability impact through cumulative resource exhaustion, but a rapid host wide failure is not established. Automated impact decision path. The original SimpleNet classifier selected LOW. The primary LLM estimated paranoid CVSS 4.6 and the production ActionableScore returned 1 with recommendation Ordinary Moderate. 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 2.4 and ActionableScore 1 with primitive class CLASS_C 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 (with actual score 1) MAYBE USB INIT LEAK HARDWARE LINUS - - checked
======================================================================
ACTIONABLESCORE ANALYSIS
======================================================================
ActionableScore=1
PrimitiveClass=NONE
RealUAF=NO
HostAdminRequired=UNKNOWN
NamespaceScopedPrivilege=NO
ImportantCandidate=NO
ManualReview=NO
AutoDowngradeAllowed=YES
RequiresHostUID0=UNKNOWN
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**::
2. Signal breakdown
* +1 Concrete persistent kernel resource leak. `input2` is separately allocated and registered but omitted from `hdev->inputs`, so normal removal permanently misses its unregister operation.
* No additional resource-exhaustion point. Repetition leaks another input device on each removal, but practical host-wide exhaustion from a constrained workload is not established.
* No UAF signal. The comment about stopping the device before unregistering `input2` specifies safe ordering for the new remove handler. It does not establish that the original path freed `input2` while URB callbacks continued using it.
* No crash or strong DoS point. The supplied evidence demonstrates retention of a registered input device, not a kernel panic or immediate system-wide failure.
* No OOB write, repeated release, refcount mutation, controlled reclaim, authorization bypass, information disclosure, or integrity primitive is established.
* NEW52 B5-R does not apply because there is no heap OOB write or retry-accumulated index.
* NEW53 B3-PENDING does not apply because no shared-backing write exists.
* V33 and the checksum metadata rules do not apply because no active structured-state corruption or networking path exists.
* No physical-hardware penalty was applied. The affected device is hardware-specific, but software-driven device or driver removal is also possible, and the evidence does not establish an exclusively rare physical attack path.
3. Reachability analysis
The leak occurs whenever an affected ALPS HID device is removed after `input2` has been registered. Physical disconnection may trigger removal on detachable hardware, while software unbind or driver removal generally requires administrative device-management access. The supplied evidence does not establish which complete trigger is available to an attacker on affected systems, so `HostAdminRequired` and `RequiresHostUID0` remain unknown.
No user-namespace or network-namespace path is involved. An affected ALPS device and loaded driver are prerequisites. There is no race requirement because the missing unregister operation occurs deterministically on the vulnerable removal path.
4. Primitive and severity interpretation
The exact defect is a missing resource and lifetime cleanup operation. The registered `input2` object escapes normal cleanup because it is not tracked in `hdev->inputs`.
This is neither an active structured-object UAF nor fixed stale storage. No object is shown to be freed and subsequently accessed, and no second release or refcount operation exists. The demonstrated consequence is a persistent per-removal resource leak. Cumulative exhaustion is theoretically possible after many removal cycles, but rapid or reliable host-wide exhaustion is not supported.
`PrimitiveClass=NONE` is appropriate because no memory-corruption, stale-use, authorization, ownership, or cross-boundary primitive is established. `ImportantCandidate=NO` and `AutoDowngradeAllowed=YES` follow because only a low-impact resource leak remains and no unresolved Important-preserving mechanism exists.
5. One-sentence report phrase
The ALPS HID removal path fails to unregister a separately allocated DualPoint Stick input device, causing a persistent resource leak on each removal without evidence of UAF, memory corruption, privilege escalation, or immediate host-wide denial of service.
6. Manual review recommendation
NO MANUAL CHECK NEEDED
The concrete effect is a deterministic device-object leak with no established corruption, security-boundary bypass, or practical strong availability consequence.
7. Call-site confidence
Call-site confidence: high
======================================================================
UPSTREAM PATCH SUMMARY
======================================================================
Patch: HID: alps: unregister DualPoint Stick input device on remove [ Upstream
Commit: 1170ebfba562b3938ff7749b2e42e4420f19436d
Upstream URL: https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git/commit/?id=1170ebfba562b3938ff7749b2e42e4420f19436d
Changed files:
drivers/hid/hid-alps.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=1170ebfba562b3938ff7749b2e42e4420f19436d
======================================================================
DETAILED REPORT METHODOLOGY
======================================================================
The original Linux kernel CVE announcement for CVE-2026-98502 can be found here:
https://lore.kernel.org/linux-cve-announce/?q=CVE-2026-98502
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:P/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L
The Best / paranoid CVSS vector: AV:P/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
The Best / paranoid CVSS score: 4.6
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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