# CVE-2026-31667: Input: uinput - fix circular locking dependency with ff-core

> A circular locking dependency in the Linux kernel uinput driver can cause a deadlock when using force-feedback gamepads, leading to denial of service.

- **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:** 24 Apr 2026
- **Updated:** 19 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** AZL-83651, BELL-CVE-2026-31667, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-31667, GHSA-mxvq-qhx2-fp47, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-11-CVE-2026-31667, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-12-CVE-2026-31667, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-13-CVE-2026-31667, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2204-CVE-2026-31667, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2404-CVE-2026-31667, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-31667

## What is CVE-2026-31667?

CVE-2026-31667 is a high-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 24 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:

Input: uinput - fix circular locking dependency with ff-core

A lockdep circular locking dependency warning can be triggered
reproducibly when using a force-feedback gamepad with uinput (for
example, playing ELDEN RING under Wine with a Flydigi Vader 5
controller):

  ff->mutex -> udev->mutex -> input_mutex -> dev->mutex -> ff->mutex

The cycle is caused by four lock acquisition paths:

1. ff upload: input_ff_upload() holds ff->mutex and calls
   uinput_dev_upload_effect() -> uinput_request_submit() ->
   uinput_request_send(), which acquires udev->mutex.

2. device create: uinput_ioctl_handler() holds udev->mutex and calls
   uinput_create_device() -> input_register_device(), which acquires
   input_mutex.

3. device register: input_register_device() holds input_mutex and
   calls kbd_connect() -> input_register_handle(), which acquires
   dev->mutex.

4. evdev release: evdev_release() calls input_flush_device() under
   dev->mutex, which calls input_ff_flush() acquiring ff->mutex.

Fix this by introducing a new state_lock spinlock to protect
udev->state and udev->dev access in uinput_request_send() instead of
acquiring udev->mutex.  The function only needs to atomically check
device state and queue an input event into the ring buffer via
uinput_dev_event() -- both operations are safe under a spinlock
(ktime_get_ts64() and wake_up_interruptible() do not sleep).  This
breaks the ff->mutex -> udev->mutex link since a spinlock is a leaf in
the lock ordering and cannot form cycles with mutexes.

To keep state transitions visible to uinput_request_send(), protect
writes to udev->state in uinput_create_device() and
uinput_destroy_device() with the same state_lock spinlock.

Additionally, move init_completion(&request->done) from
uinput_request_send() to uinput_request_submit() before
uinput_request_reserve_slot().  Once the slot is allocated,
uinput_flush_requests() may call complete() on it at any time from
the destroy path, so the completion must be initialised before the
request becomes visible.

Lock ordering after the fix:

  ff->mutex -> state_lock (spinlock, leaf)
  udev->mutex -> state_lock (spinlock, leaf)
  udev->mutex -> input_mutex -> dev->mutex -> ff->mutex (no back-edge)

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

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-31667?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2026-31667?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-31667 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-31667 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-2026-31667 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-31667 is a high-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 24 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-2026-31667 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-2026-31667/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-31667/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-31667
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-31667
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-31667

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-31667/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.