# CVE-2026-31486: hwmon: (pmbus/core) Protect regulator operations with mutex

> A race condition in the Linux kernel PMBus driver can cause deadlocks or instability, requiring a patch to protect regulator operations with mutexes.

- **Severity:** High 7.1 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/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:** 22 Apr 2026
- **Updated:** 19 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** AZL-83192, BELL-CVE-2026-31486, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-31486, GHSA-rgx6-c7rp-8r4x, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-11-CVE-2026-31486, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-12-CVE-2026-31486, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-13-CVE-2026-31486, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2204-CVE-2026-31486, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2404-CVE-2026-31486, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-31486

## What is CVE-2026-31486?

CVE-2026-31486 is a high-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 22 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:

hwmon: (pmbus/core) Protect regulator operations with mutex

The regulator operations pmbus_regulator_get_voltage(),
pmbus_regulator_set_voltage(), and pmbus_regulator_list_voltage()
access PMBus registers and shared data but were not protected by
the update_lock mutex. This could lead to race conditions.

However, adding mutex protection directly to these functions causes
a deadlock because pmbus_regulator_notify() (which calls
regulator_notifier_call_chain()) is often called with the mutex
already held (e.g., from pmbus_fault_handler()). If a regulator
callback then calls one of the now-protected voltage functions,
it will attempt to acquire the same mutex.

Rework pmbus_regulator_notify() to utilize a worker function to
send notifications outside of the mutex protection. Events are
stored as atomics in a per-page bitmask and processed by the worker.

Initialize the worker and its associated data during regulator
registration, and ensure it is cancelled on device removal using
devm_add_action_or_reset().

While at it, remove the unnecessary include of linux/of.h.

Weakness: CWE-667 (Improper Locking), CWE-362 (Concurrent Execution using Shared Resource with Improper Synchronization)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-31486?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2026-31486?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-31486 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-31486 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-2026-31486 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-31486 is a high-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 22 Apr 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-2026-31486 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-2026-31486/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-31486/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-31486
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-31486
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-31486

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-31486/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.