# CVE-2023-0266: Use after free in SNDRV_CTL_IOCTL_ELEM in Linux Kernel

> CVE-2023-0266: Use after free in SNDRV_CTL_IOCTL_ELEM in Linux Kernel. CVSS 7.9 (CVSS 3.1), in CISA KEV.

Canonical: https://rewindex.com/cve/CVE-2023-0266
Last updated: 2025-10-21T23:15:27Z

- Published: 2023-01-30 13:09 UTC · Updated: 2025-10-21 23:15 UTC · Assigner: Google
- CVSS: 7.9 (CVSS 3.1) · Severity: High · Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:L/I:H/A:H
- EPSS: 3.7%, 90th percentile (scored 2026-10-25)
- CISA KEV: yes, added 2023-03-30, federal due date 2023-04-20, ransomware use: Unknown
- CWE: CWE-416

## Description

A use after free vulnerability exists in the ALSA PCM package in the Linux Kernel. SNDRV\_CTL\_IOCTL\_ELEM\_{READ\|WRITE}32 is missing locks that can be used in a use-after-free that can result in a priviledge escalation to gain ring0 access from the system user. We recommend upgrading past commit 56b88b50565cd8b946a2d00b0c83927b7ebb055e

## CISA required action

Apply updates per vendor instructions.

## Affected vendors and products

- Linux: Linux Kernel

## References

- [CVE record on cve.org](https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-0266)
- [NVD entry](https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-0266)
- [https://github.com/torvalds/linux/commit/56b88b50565cd8b946a2d00b0c83927b7ebb055e](https://github.com/torvalds/linux/commit/56b88b50565cd8b946a2d00b0c83927b7ebb055e)
- [https://github.com/torvalds/linux/commit/becf9e5d553c2389d857a3c178ce80fdb34a02e1](https://github.com/torvalds/linux/commit/becf9e5d553c2389d857a3c178ce80fdb34a02e1)
- [https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/stable-queue.git/tree/queue-5.10/alsa-pcm-move-rwsem-lock-inside-snd\_ctl\_elem\_read-to-prevent-uaf.patch?id=72783cf35e6c55bca84c4bb7b776c58152856fd4](https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/stable-queue.git/tree/queue-5.10/alsa-pcm-move-rwsem-lock-inside-snd_ctl_elem_read-to-prevent-uaf.patch?id=72783cf35e6c55bca84c4bb7b776c58152856fd4)
- [https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2023/05/msg00006.html](https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2023/05/msg00006.html)

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_Sources: CVE records from the CVE Program (cve.org). CVE® is a registered trademark of The MITRE Corporation. (https://www.cve.org/) This product uses data from the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. (https://nvd.nist.gov/) Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog from CISA. (https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog) EPSS scores from FIRST (Exploit Prediction Scoring System). (https://www.first.org/epss/)_


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Canonical: https://rewindex.com/cve/CVE-2023-0266 · Markdown: https://rewindex.com/cve/CVE-2023-0266.md · JSON: https://rewindex.com/api/v1/cves/CVE-2023-0266 · Data licensed CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) · Generated 2026-10-26T03:10:10.233Z