CVE-2026-23446 net: usb: aqc111: Do not perform PM inside suspend callback
A deadlock in the aqc111 USB network driver during suspend causes a system-wide networking stack lockup, requiring a kernel patch.
- 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
What is CVE-2026-23446?
CVE-2026-23446 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 3 Apr 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:
net: usb: aqc111: Do not perform PM inside suspend callback
syzbot reports "task hung in rpm_resume"
This is caused by aqc111_suspend calling the PM variant of its write_cmd routine.
The simplified call trace looks like this:
rpm_suspend() usb_suspend_both() - here udev->dev.power.runtime_status == RPM_SUSPENDING aqc111_suspend() - called for the usb device interface aqc111_write32_cmd() usb_autopm_get_interface() pm_runtime_resume_and_get() rpm_resume() - here we call rpm_resume() on our parent rpm_resume() - Here we wait for a status change that will never happen.
At this point we block another task which holds rtnl_lock and locks up the whole networking stack.
Fix this by replacing the write_cmd calls with their _nopm variants
Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-23446?
It affects 1 product.
Products include Linux kernel.
How do I fix CVE-2026-23446?
Apply the vendor's patch.
Upgrade, then put limits on request size, rate and nesting depth so one client cannot exhaust the service. More about Denial of service.
Is CVE-2026-23446 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-23446 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Other vulnerabilities in Linux kernel
Sources
Also known as BELL-CVE-2026-23446, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-23446, GHSA-mqjm-rhm6-4854, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-11-CVE-2026-23446, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-12-CVE-2026-23446, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-13-CVE-2026-23446 and 3 more.