CVE-2026-89980 PUBLISHED

ALSA: harmony: initialize locks before requesting IRQ

Assigner: Linux
Reserved: 11.09.2026 Published: 16.09.2026 Updated: 16.09.2026

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

ALSA: harmony: initialize locks before requesting IRQ

snd_harmony_create() registers the IRQ before initializing h->lock and h->mixer_lock. A pending interrupt can invoke the handler while these locks are uninitialized.

Initialize both locks before requesting the IRQ so the handler always sees valid lock state.

Metrics

CVSS Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
CVSS Score: 8.4

AV:L - The bug is reached only from snd_harmony_probe() → snd_harmony_create() → request_irq() → snd_harmony_interrupt() on onboard HP PA-RISC LASI/ASP Harmony audio, which enumerates at boot or module bind. There is no network, Bluetooth, or USB packet path into this GSC chip. AC:L - snd_harmony_create() calls request_irq() before spin_lock_init() and before pcm_init()'s harmony_disable_interrupts(). Firmware leftover DSTATUS_IE plus pending PN/RN lets gsc_asic_unmask_irq() deliver snd_harmony_interrupt() immediately against uninitialized h->lock, without an attacker-uncontrollable race. PR:N - snd_harmony_create() performs no capability or authentication checks before request_irq(). On GSC/LASI PA-RISC workstations and servers with Harmony, kernel/udev enumeration runs the vulnerable probe automatically without an OS account or user-namespace privilege. UI:N - No victim action is required. A pending Harmony interrupt during driver probe at boot or module autoload invokes the uninitialized-lock IRQ path without anyone opening ALSA PCM or control nodes. S:U - Impact is uninitialized spinlock use and DMA next-address programming inside the host kernel Harmony driver. This does not cross a VM, IOMMU, or sandbox security boundary. C:H - snd_harmony_interrupt() takes uninitialized h->lock in hard-IRQ context and, with psubs/csubs still NULL, programs HARMONY_PNXTADD from zeroed sdma so the chip DMAs from physical address 0. That undefined lock/DMA behavior can disclose kernel memory rather than a small bounded leak. I:H - On SMP PA-RISC (defconfig), probe can spin_lock_init() h->lock while the IRQ handler still holds the zeroed lock, and the handler writes HARMONY_RNXTADD/PNXTADD (including 0) in that window. That lock-state corruption and invalid DMA programming are write/control-flow primitives, not a pure crash. A:H - Taking uninitialized h->lock in snd_harmony_interrupt() during probe hits DEBUG_SPINLOCK bad-magic BUG, lockdep non-static-key failure, oops/panic, or a hung IRQ/DMA path on affected PA-RISC machines, fully denying availability.

Product Status

Vendor Linux
Product Linux
Versions Default: unaffected
  • affected from 1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 to 9af6c9203583655cb7ed45e52e14101652b37547 (excl.)
  • affected from 1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 to f86ff9238b0c8284909e073a681a60708b9f36ab (excl.)
  • affected from 1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 to 7dc239edb6d58e01c9ec868565cc03e7adf91747 (excl.)
  • affected from 1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 to 9347588bbd6ad43a85e17046d9c117a41453c52a (excl.)
  • affected from 1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 to 89992bda7dfbba7ded2ba4185730453c57fa65bc (excl.)
  • affected from 1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 to cd209eb3136e002becbda232e399fa31a2276436 (excl.)
  • affected from 1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 to 33abb7491e89285a41565670945293dda841afc4 (excl.)
Vendor Linux
Product Linux
Versions Default: affected
  • Version 2.6.12 is affected
  • unaffected from 0 to 2.6.12 (excl.)
  • unaffected from 5.15.221 to 5.15.* (incl.)
  • unaffected from 6.1.188 to 6.1.* (incl.)
  • unaffected from 6.6.157 to 6.6.* (incl.)
  • unaffected from 6.12.110 to 6.12.* (incl.)
  • unaffected from 6.18.51 to 6.18.* (incl.)
  • unaffected from 7.2.5 to 7.2.* (incl.)
  • unaffected from 7.3-rc2 to * (incl.)

References