CVE-2023-0266Use after free in SNDRV_CTL_IOCTL_ELEM in Linux Kernel
- 7.9HighCVSS base score
- 2.6%Exploitation in 30 daysEPSS · top 14% of all CVEs
- YesKnown exploitedin CISA's KEV since 30 Mar 2023
- YesPublic exploitsa reference or SSVC says so
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
Exploited in the wild
CISA lists this vulnerability in its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog as Linux Kernel Use-After-Free Vulnerability.
- Added
- 30 Mar 2023
- Fix due (US federal)
- 20 Apr 2023
- Used by ransomware
- Not known
Apply updates per vendor instructions.
ENISA's EU Vulnerability Database lists it as exploited, from CISA's KEV, since 30 Mar 2023.
Public exploit
An exploit or proof of concept is public: anyone can try it against an unpatched system. CISA's SSVC rates its exploitation: it is being exploited.
Timeline
ID reserved
By Google
- 17 days later
· 17 days later
Published
- 59 days later
· 59 days later
Added to CISA KEV
Known exploited in the wild
- 3 years later
· 3 years later
Record updated
Changes after publication (a new score, a public exploit, EPSS crossing 1, 10 or 50 %, leaving KEV) are kept since November 2026; earlier ones are not known.
Scores
| Scored by | CVSS | Score | Vector |
|---|---|---|---|
| GoogleCNA (assigner) | 3.1 | High7.9 | CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:L/I:H/A:H |
| NVDNVD · Analyzed | 3.1 | High7.0 | CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H |
- EPSS (exploitation in 30 days)
- 2.6% · top 14% of all CVEs (15 Nov 2026)
- CISA SSVC
- Exploitation: active · Automatable: no · Technical impact: total
The list uses the assigner's score when there is one, then CISA's, then NVD's: High 7.9.
Affected products
- affected 4.14 – < 56b88b50565cd8b946a2d00b0c83927b7ebb055e
References
References5
- https://github.com/torvalds/linux/commit/becf9e5d553c2389d857a3c178ce80fdb34a02e1 (opens in a new tab)x_transferred
- 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 (opens in a new tab)x_transferred
- https://github.com/torvalds/linux/commit/56b88b50565cd8b946a2d00b0c83927b7ebb055e (opens in a new tab)x_transferred
- https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2023/05/msg00006.html (opens in a new tab)x_transferred
- https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2023-0266 (opens in a new tab)government-resource
Sources
The same CVE in the primary databases and aggregators, to check against.
- CVE.org record (opens in a new tab)
- CVE List JSON (GitHub) (opens in a new tab)
- NVD (opens in a new tab)
- CISA KEV catalog (opens in a new tab)
- FIRST EPSS (opens in a new tab)
- EUVD EUVD-2023-12345 (opens in a new tab)
- OSV.dev (opens in a new tab)
- GitHub Advisories (opens in a new tab)
- CIRCL Vulnerability-Lookup (opens in a new tab)
Badge for a README or a ticket
[](https://cveledger.app/cve/CVE-2023-0266)Record last updated .