# CVE-2026-16148: Kernel panic in the it82xx2 USB device controller driver via re-initialization of a busy delayable work item

> An attacker with physical USB access can cause a kernel panic in Zephyr RTOS by triggering a race condition during USB device controller re-initialization.

- **Severity:** Medium 4.6 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:P/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 14 Sep 2026
- **Updated:** 14 Sep 2026
- **Also known as:** GHSA-fvp9-j2pq-477x

## What is CVE-2026-16148?

CVE-2026-16148 is a medium-severity vulnerability in zephyrproject zephyr, published on 14 Sep 2026. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

The ITE it82xx2 USB device-controller driver initialized its bus-suspend detection work with k_work_init_delayable(&priv->suspended_work, suspended_handler) inside it82xx2_enable() (the driver's .enable op) in drivers/usb/udc/udc_it82xx2.c. This work item is scheduled essentially continuously while the USB bus is active: the interrupt handler reschedules it on every SOF frame and suspended_handler() reschedules itself, so its timeout node is normally linked in the kernel timeout list / a workqueue pending queue.

k_work_init_delayable() (kernel/work.c) unconditionally overwrites the entire k_work_delayable structure, including its timeout and queue linkage, with no busy check. Because it82xx2_disable() does not cancel the work, a normal disable-then-enable cycle re-runs api->enable() (udc_enable() only rejects a redundant enable, not a re-enable after disable) and re-initializes the still-pending work in place, corrupting the kernel timeout/workqueue linked lists and causing a kernel panic.

An external USB host — for example a host performing USB DFU detach (dfu-util --detach) or forcing repeated attach/reset/re-enumeration — drives the udc_disable()/udc_enable() transitions and controls suspend/resume timing, so it can arrange for the suspend work to be pending across a re-enable. This yields an unauthenticated denial of service (kernel panic) reachable across the USB boundary from a removable, physically-connected host, with no confidentiality or integrity impact demonstrated.

The fix moves the k_work_init_delayable() call into the one-time preinit function so the work is initialized exactly once, eliminating the re-initialization of an in-use item.

Weakness: CWE-666 (Operation on Resource in Wrong Phase of Lifetime)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-16148?


## How do I fix CVE-2026-16148?

No fix has been published for CVE-2026-16148 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2026-16148 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-16148 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-16148 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-16148 is a medium-severity vulnerability in zephyrproject zephyr, published on 14 Sep 2026. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-16148 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: zephyrproject zephyr. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-16148/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-16148/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-16148
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-16148
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-16148

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-16148/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.