In the ALSA PCM subsystem of the Linux kernel, the function snd_pcm_drain can corrupt the wait‑queue list when applied to linked audio streams. The corruption results in a null‑pointer dereference during a subsequent wake‑up, causing a kernel panic. This flaw is categorized as CWE‑476 and CWE‑824 and directly leads to denial of service by crashing the operating system.

All builds of the Linux kernel that include the ALSA PCM subsystem and have not yet integrated the wait‑queue fix commit (which replaces init_waitqueue_entry/add_wait_queue with init_wait_entry/prepare_to_wait/finish_wait) are affected. This includes mainstream releases and recent development branches that have not incorporated the 2026‑53242 commit.

The CVSS score of 7.8 indicates a high severity. The EPSS score of less than 1% and the absence from CISA KEV suggest that a real‑world exploitation attempt is unlikely at present. The likely attack vector is local: an unprivileged or privileged user‑space process that invokes snd_pcm_drain on a linked stream can trigger the flaw, resulting in a kernel panic. No remote exploitation method is documented in the available data.