# CVE-2026-22986: gpiolib: fix race condition for gdev->srcu

> A race condition in the Linux kernel GPIO subsystem can cause a system crash when multiple drivers initialize GPIO chips concurrently.

- **Severity:** Medium 4.7 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 23 Jan 2026
- **Updated:** 11 May 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2026-22986, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-22986, GHSA-c2vw-8m72-w2vh, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-13-CVE-2026-22986, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-22986

## What is CVE-2026-22986?

CVE-2026-22986 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 23 Jan 2026. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

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

gpiolib: fix race condition for gdev->srcu

If two drivers were calling gpiochip_add_data_with_key(), one may be
traversing the srcu-protected list in gpio_name_to_desc(), meanwhile
other has just added its gdev in gpiodev_add_to_list_unlocked().
This creates a non-mutexed and non-protected timeframe, when one
instance is dereferencing and using &gdev->srcu, before the other
has initialized it, resulting in crash:

[    4.935481] Unable to handle kernel paging request at virtual address ffff800272bcc000
[    4.943396] Mem abort info:
[    4.943400]   ESR = 0x0000000096000005
[    4.943403]   EC = 0x25: DABT (current EL), IL = 32 bits
[    4.943407]   SET = 0, FnV = 0
[    4.943410]   EA = 0, S1PTW = 0
[    4.943413]   FSC = 0x05: level 1 translation fault
[    4.943416] Data abort info:
[    4.943418]   ISV = 0, ISS = 0x00000005, ISS2 = 0x00000000
[    4.946220]   CM = 0, WnR = 0, TnD = 0, TagAccess = 0
[    4.955261]   GCS = 0, Overlay = 0, DirtyBit = 0, Xs = 0
[    4.955268] swapper pgtable: 4k pages, 48-bit VAs, pgdp=0000000038e6c000
[    4.961449] [ffff800272bcc000] pgd=0000000000000000
[    4.969203] , p4d=1000000039739003
[    4.979730] , pud=0000000000000000
[    4.980210] phandle (CPU): 0x0000005e, phandle (BE): 0x5e000000 for node "reset"
[    4.991736] Internal error: Oops: 0000000096000005 [#1] PREEMPT SMP
...
[    5.121359] pc : __srcu_read_lock+0x44/0x98
[    5.131091] lr : gpio_name_to_desc+0x60/0x1a0
[    5.153671] sp : ffff8000833bb430
[    5.298440]
[    5.298443] Call trace:
[    5.298445]  __srcu_read_lock+0x44/0x98
[    5.309484]  gpio_name_to_desc+0x60/0x1a0
[    5.320692]  gpiochip_add_data_with_key+0x488/0xf00
    5.946419] ---[ end trace 0000000000000000 ]---

Move initialization code for gdev fields before it is added to
gpio_devices, with adjacent initialization code.
Adjust goto statements  to reflect modified order of operations

[Bartosz: fixed a build issue, removed stray newline]

Weakness: CWE-362 (Concurrent Execution using Shared Resource with Improper Synchronization)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-22986?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2026-22986?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-22986 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-22986 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Linux kernel

- [CVE-2026-53266](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-53266/): Linux Kernel Out-of-Bounds Write (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2013-6282](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-6282/): Linux Kernel Improper Input Validation (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2022-0185](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-0185/): Linux Kernel Heap-Based Buffer Overflow (high 8.4, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2013-2094](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-2094/): Linux Kernel Privilege Escalation (high 8.4, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2026-53362](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-53362/): Linux Kernel Unspecified (high 7.8, exploited in the wild)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-22986 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-22986 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 23 Jan 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-2026-22986 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Linux kernel. 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-2026-22986/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-22986/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-22986
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-22986
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-22986

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-22986/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.