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

speakup: keyhelp: guard letter_offsets possible out-of-range indexing

help_init() builds letter_offsets[] by using the first byte of each
function name as an index via `(start & 31) - 1`. If function_names are
overridden from sysfs (root) with a name starting outside [a–z], the
index underflows or exceeds the array, leading to OOB write.

Function names can be overridden with the following commands as root:

modprobe speakup_soft
echo "0 _bad" > /sys/accessibility/speakup/i18n/function_names
# then press Insert+2 on /dev/tty

This fix checks the first letter in help_init(), and if it is not in the
[a–z] range the function returns an error to the caller. Eventually this
error is propagated to drivers/accessibility/speakup/main.c:2217, which
causes a bleep sound.
Published: 2026-09-17
Score: n/a
EPSS: n/a
KEV: No
Impact: n/a
Action: n/a
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History

Thu, 17 Sep 2026 16:30:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Description In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: speakup: keyhelp: guard letter_offsets possible out-of-range indexing help_init() builds letter_offsets[] by using the first byte of each function name as an index via `(start & 31) - 1`. If function_names are overridden from sysfs (root) with a name starting outside [a–z], the index underflows or exceeds the array, leading to OOB write. Function names can be overridden with the following commands as root: modprobe speakup_soft echo "0 _bad" > /sys/accessibility/speakup/i18n/function_names # then press Insert+2 on /dev/tty This fix checks the first letter in help_init(), and if it is not in the [a–z] range the function returns an error to the caller. Eventually this error is propagated to drivers/accessibility/speakup/main.c:2217, which causes a bleep sound.
Title speakup: keyhelp: guard letter_offsets possible out-of-range indexing
First Time appeared Linux
Linux linux Kernel
CPEs cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
Vendors & Products Linux
Linux linux Kernel
References

Subscriptions

Linux Linux Kernel
cve-icon MITRE

Status: PUBLISHED

Assigner: Linux

Published:

Updated: 2026-09-17T16:10:42.397Z

Reserved: 2026-09-17T15:57:05.658Z

Link: CVE-2026-93053

cve-icon Vulnrichment

No data.

cve-icon NVD

Status : Received

Published: 2026-09-17T17:17:58.783

Modified: 2026-09-17T17:17:58.783

Link: CVE-2026-93053

cve-icon Redhat

No data.

cve-icon OpenCVE Enrichment

No data.

Weaknesses

No weakness.