# CVE-2026-23178: HID: i2c-hid: fix potential buffer overflow in i2c_hid_get_report()

> A buffer overflow in the Linux kernel's i2c-hid driver allows potential code execution or privilege escalation, though exploitation requires root access to hidraw devices.

- **Severity:** High 7.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/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:** 14 Feb 2026
- **Updated:** 19 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2026-23178, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-23178, GHSA-rhhh-mwpc-m2qj, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-12-CVE-2026-23178, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-13-CVE-2026-23178, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2204-CVE-2026-23178, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2404-CVE-2026-23178, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-23178

## What is CVE-2026-23178?

CVE-2026-23178 is a high-severity memory corruption vulnerability in Linux, published on 14 Feb 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:

HID: i2c-hid: fix potential buffer overflow in i2c_hid_get_report()

`i2c_hid_xfer` is used to read `recv_len + sizeof(__le16)` bytes of data
into `ihid->rawbuf`.

The former can come from the userspace in the hidraw driver and is only
bounded by HID_MAX_BUFFER_SIZE(16384) by default (unless we also set
`max_buffer_size` field of `struct hid_ll_driver` which we do not).

The latter has size determined at runtime by the maximum size of
different report types you could receive on any particular device and
can be a much smaller value.

Fix this by truncating `recv_len` to `ihid->bufsize - sizeof(__le16)`.

The impact is low since access to hidraw devices requires root.

Weakness: CWE-122 (Heap-based Buffer Overflow)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-23178?


## How do I fix CVE-2026-23178?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-23178 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-23178 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-23178 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-23178 is a high-severity memory corruption vulnerability in Linux, published on 14 Feb 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-2026-23178 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Linux. 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-2026-23178/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-23178/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-23178
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-23178
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-23178

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-23178/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.