CVE-2026-53996

NetBSD's hdaudio(4) driver in sys/dev/hdaudio/hdaudio.c contains a missing access control vulnerability that allows unprivileged local attackers to invoke the HDAUDIO_FGRP_SETCONFIG ioctl without elevated permissions by exploiting the absence of an access check on /dev/hdaudioN device nodes. Attackers can repeatedly issue HDAUDIO_FGRP_SETCONFIG from one thread while keeping DMA and IRQs live from a second thread to trigger a use-after-free race condition in hdafg_detach() between stream_stop() and stream_disestablish(), where a latched DMA interrupt dereferences a freed callback pointer, resulting in outcomes ranging from audio-subsystem denial of service and kernel panic to potential local kernel privilege escalation.

CVSS 4.0

7.3CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:H/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N

CVSS 3.1

7.0CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

EPSS

0.1% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days; higher than 2% of CVEs (scores of 2026-10-25)

CWE

CWE-862

Published

2026-08-12

Modified

2026-10-24

Record from

the NVD, synced 2026-10-24

References

• https://cvsweb.NetBSD.org/bsdweb.cgi/src/sys/dev/hdaudio/hdaudio.c
• https://gist.github.com/n4sm/c9683ca728ecfada6c726f2a5afb50ed
• https://gnats.netbsd.org/60492
• https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/netbsd-hdaudio-4-driver-privilege-bypass-use-after-free-via-hdaudio-fgrp-setconfig-ioctl

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