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Resource Allocation Without LimitsWeakness · CWE-770

CVE-2026-14330

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2026-07-01
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
57/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Zero-click 7 weeks old

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
Multiple unbounded alloca() calls in the PulseAudio protocol server.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · moderate confidence

Multiple unbounded alloca() calls exist in the PulseAudio protocol server. The alloca() function allocates memory on the stack without proper size validation, allowing an attacker to potentially cause a stack buffer overflow or denial of service by sending specially crafted requests to the PulseAudio server.

MitigationReplace all unbounded alloca() calls with safe heap-based allocation (malloc) or implement proper bounds checking before stack allocation. Apply vendor patches when available and limit PulseAudio server network exposure.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Check if PulseAudio is installed
    Run 'pulseaudio --version' or check package manager for pulseaudio package
    Affected if PulseAudio is not installed or version cannot be determined
  2. Determine PulseAudio version
    Compare your installed version against any available release notes or security advisories for CVE-2026-14330; if no version is publicly associated with the fix, assume versions prior to any future patch are affected
    Affected if Installed version is older than the patched version once released
  3. Verify PulseAudio protocol server is enabled
    Check configuration files in /etc/pulse/ for 'enable-protocol-server=true' or similar settings, or run 'pactl info' and inspect server properties
    Affected if The protocol server module is loaded and enabled in configuration
  4. Check if PulseAudio is network accessible
    Inspect /etc/pulse/default.pa and /etc/pulse/system.pa for 'module-native-protocol-unix' with 'auth-anonymous=1' or 'module-zeroconf-publish' loaded; also check firewall rules for PulseAudio ports (typically UDP/TCP 4713)
    Affected if PulseAudio accepts remote connections without proper access controls
  5. Identify running PulseAudio modules
    Run 'pactl list modules' to enumerate loaded modules and look for protocol-related modules like module-native-protocol-unix, module-zeroconf-publish, or module-rtp-recv
    Affected if Network-facing modules are actively loaded

You are affected if PulseAudio is running with its protocol server enabled and network-accessible, and your version predates the vendor patch for this vulnerability.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

From vendor data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Replace all unbounded alloca() calls with safe heap-based allocation (malloc) or implement proper bounds checking before stack allocation. Apply vendor patches when available and limit PulseAudio server network exposure.

Have this fixed Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA3.0 h
21.0 hours of engineering $3,680
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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2026-14330 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data