A flaw was found in the Linux kernel’s implementation of MIDI, where an attacker with a local account and the permissions to issue ioctl commands to midi devices could trigger a use-after-free issue. A write to this specific memory while freed and before use causes the flow of execution to change and possibly allow for memory corruption or privilege escalation. The highest threat from this vulnerability is to confidentiality, integrity, as well as system availability.

Mitigation

As the midi module will be auto-loaded when required, its use can be disabled by preventing the module from loading with the following instructions:

echo "install snd-rawmidi /bin/true" >> /etc/modprobe.d/disable-snd-rawmidi.conf

The system will need to be restarted if the snd-rawmidi modules are loaded. In most circumstances, the CIFS kernel modules will be unable to be unloaded while any midi / sound devices are active and the protocol is in use.

If the system requires this module to work correctly, this mitigation may not be suitable.

If you need further assistance, see KCS article <https://access.redhat.com/solutions/41278&gt; or contact Red Hat Global Support Services.