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Mallory
High

Out-of-bounds access in Linux kernel ALSA ctxfi ct_vm_map()

IdentifiersCVE-2026-31602CWE-787

CVE-2026-31602 is a local Linux kernel vulnerability in the ALSA ctxfi driver (snd_ctxfi). A prior change, commit 391e69143d0a, increased CT_PTP_NUM from 1 to 4 to support 256 playback streams, but the additional PTP pages were not handled correctly by the CT20K2 hardware path. Specifically, ct_vm_map() always uses page table entries from vm->ptp[0].area regardless of the CT_PTP_NUM setting. On AMD64, a single PTP covers 512 PTEs, equivalent to 2 MB of mapped space. When aggregate memory allocations exceed that limit, ct_vm_map() accesses beyond the allocated page table space, leading to an out-of-bounds memory access and a kernel page fault during ALSA playback preparation paths. The upstream fix resolves the issue by reverting CT_PTP_NUM to 1 rather than attempting to use multiple PTP pages without broader virtual memory allocation refactoring.

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For your environment

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ANALYST BRIEF

Impact, mitigation & remediation

What it means. What to do now. Patch path, mitigations, and the assume-compromise checklist.

Impact

What an attacker gets, and what they’ve been doing with it.

Successful exploitation allows a local attacker or low-privileged local process to trigger a kernel page fault in the snd_ctxfi driver, causing kernel oops/panic conditions, system instability, or denial of service. The provided context does not establish reliable evidence of code execution; the demonstrated impact is kernel crash via invalid memory access.

Mitigation

If you can’t patch tonight, do this now.

If immediate patching is not possible, reduce exposure by disabling, blacklisting, or avoiding use of the affected ALSA ctxfi/snd_ctxfi driver on systems with compatible Creative X-Fi/CT20K2 hardware. Restrict local access to untrusted users and workloads that could interact with the vulnerable ALSA device paths. No complete workaround beyond removing exposure to the driver is provided in the available content.

Remediation

Patch, then assume compromise.

Upgrade to a Linux kernel release containing the upstream ALSA ctxfi fix for CVE-2026-31602. The fix limits PTP to a single page by reverting CT_PTP_NUM from 4 back to 1. Apply vendor kernel updates such as the referenced SUSE security advisories, then reboot into the patched kernel.
PUBLIC EXPLOITS

Exploits

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VALID 0 / 0 TOTALView more in app

No public exploit code observed for this vulnerability.

EXPOSURE SURFACE

Affected products & vendors

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VendorProductType
LinuxLinux Kerneloperating_system

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ACTIVITY FEED

Recent activity

5 sources tracked across advisories and community write-ups. News coverage will land here when it surfaces.

No news coverage yet. Advisories and community discussion only.

What this page doesn’t show

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Exposure mapping

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Threat actor evidence

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Associated malware

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Detection signatures

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Vendor-by-vendor mapping

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Social activity1

Community discussion across Reddit, Mastodon, and other social sources.