---
id: "CVE-2026-98501"
kind: "vulnerability"
aliases: ["CVE-2026-98501"]
title: "Linux kernel: ALPS HID driver use-after-free on input registration failure"
severity: "unknown"
cvss: null
epss: null
exploited: false
status: "open"
category: "infrastructure"
products: []
ecosystems: []
tags: ["alps-touchpad", "infrastructure", "laptops", "linux-kernel"]
not_affected_if: ["no-alps-hardware"]
published_at: "2026-10-18T16:17:01+00:00"
first_seen_at: "2026-10-23T21:57:15+00:00"
updated_at: "2026-10-25T05:25:33+00:00"
sources: [{"source": "nvd", "url": "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-98501", "first_seen_at": "2026-10-23T21:57:15+00:00"}]
---

# Linux kernel: ALPS HID driver use-after-free on input registration failure

When registering a second input device for an ALPS touchpad fails, the driver keeps a pointer to the freed device, and a later HID report can write through it. An attacker who can deliver a crafted HID report to the machine could cause a use-after-free in the kernel.

_Summary, check and fix written by a model from the sources; labelled as such._

## How to check

- unknown

## Fix

- Install a Linux kernel build that includes the upstream fix for HID: alps (the input2 use-after-free), as published by your distribution; the sources do not name a version.

## Timeline

- 2026-10-23T21:57:15+00:00 nvd https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-98501

## From the sources

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

HID: alps: fix use-after-free on input2 registration failure

alps_input_configured() stores data->input2 before calling
input_register_device().  If registration fails, input_free_device()
frees the input device but data->input2 still points to the freed memory.
alps_input_configured() calls hid_hw_open() before allocating input2, so
URBs are already active and raw_event can fire during the failure window.
A U1_SP_ABSOLUTE_REPORT_ID report arriving then causes u1_raw_event()
to dereference the freed data->input2 -> use-after-free.

Fix by only storing input2 into drvdata after successful registration
and adding a NULL guard in the raw_event path.

---

_Free to read at a human pace. An API with keys and an MCP server are in preparation; early access: hello@infrastack.ai_