i2c: i801: fix hardware state machine corruption in error path
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Local
- Privileges required
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Impact type
- —
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- None · None · High
- Fix status
- Partial Red Hat: 3 without a fix
Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · NVD. Fix status from CNA and Red Hat.
Summary
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: i2c: i801: fix hardware state machine corruption in error path A severe livelock and subsequent Hung Task panic were observed in the i2c-i801 driver during concurrent Fuzzing. The crash is caused by an unconditional hardware register cleanup in the error handling path of i801_access(). When i801_check_pre() fails (e.g., returning -EBUSY because the SMBus controller is actively used by BIOS/ACPI), the kernel does not actually acquire the hardware ownership. However, the code jumps to the 'out' label and executes: iowrite8(SMBHSTSTS_INUSE_STS | STATUS_FLAGS, SMBHSTSTS(priv)); This forcefully clears the INUSE_STS lock and resets the hardware status flags without owning the controller. Doing so interrupts ongoing BIOS/ACPI transactions and totally corrupts the SMBus hardware state machine. Consequently, all subsequent i801_access() calls fail at the pre-check stage, triggering an endless stream of "SMBus is busy, can't use it!" error logs. Over a slow serial console, this printk flood monopolizes the CPU (Console Livelock), starving other processes trying to acquire the mmap_lock down_read semaphore, ultimately triggering the hung task watchdog. Fix this by moving the 'out' label below the hardware register cleanup. If i801_check_pre() fails, we safely bypass the iowrite8() and only release the software locks (pm_runtime and mutex), strictly adhering to the rule of not releasing resources that were never acquired.
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
CISA ADP · SSVC 2.0.3
- Exploitation
- None
- Automatable
- No
- Technical impact
- Partial
The decision (Track, Attend, Act) also depends on your mission and well-being impact; see CISA's SSVC guide.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Linux | Linux | 6.3 and later | 6.6.148, 6.12.101, 6.18.39, 7.1.4, 7.2 | Patch available | CNA |
- Linux VendorLinux Affected 6.3 and later Fixed in 6.6.148, 6.12.101, 6.18.39, 7.1.4, 7.2 Patch available CNA
CPE configurations NVD · 1
| CPE | Versions | Role | Vendor |
|---|---|---|---|
| cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | 6.3 to before 6.6.148; 6.7 to before 6.12.101; 6.13 to before 6.18.39; 6.19 to before 7.1.4 | Vulnerable | Linux |
- cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 6.3 to before 6.6.148; 6.7 to before 6.12.101; 6.13 to before 6.18.39; 6.19 to before 7.1.4 Vulnerable ·Linux
Remediation
- Fix · CNA Linux (Linux) Fixed in 6.6.148, 6.12.101, 6.18.39, 7.1.4, 7.2
Vendor assessments
Red Hat
Red Hat rating: Moderate. Red Hat's page for this CVE →
| Product | Status | Plan or fix |
|---|---|---|
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 | Affected | No fix planned: Out of support scope |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
Not affected: 3 products
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-64205
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-cfcm-pxwx-hg62
- 2026-10-29 Affected versions changed · Red Hat
- 2026-11-06 CISA SSVC decision points changed
References
Patch 5
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/2ef69871b313aa0f02182795f5e0f5aa455f203c
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/ef5a347532932f58748dad485c15039f5168c377
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/bb5133a7d5f3fe5c387770e25f2e00e682ce11ed
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/00904687b9c5527d569d9a1ca72119823e735a61
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/10dd1a736d557e310a77117832874729a0175d57
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- TI-2013-01864 The perf_swevent_init function in kernel/events/core.c in the Linux kernel before 3.8.9… KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.4
- TI-2021-05514 Heap Out-Of-Bounds Write in Netfilter IP6T_SO_SET_REPLACE KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.3
Sources
- CVE-2026-64205 · CVE Program
- CVE-2026-64205 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-cfcm-pxwx-hg62 · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2026-64205 · Red Hat security data · CC BY 4.0
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