# CVE-2026-53196: USB: serial: io_ti: fix heap overflow in get_manuf_info()

> A malicious USB device can trigger a heap overflow in the Linux kernel io_ti driver, potentially allowing code execution or privilege escalation.

- **Severity:** Medium 6.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:P/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 25 Jun 2026
- **Updated:** 18 Sep 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2026-53196, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-53196, GHSA-f3q5-7m6p-4qxq, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-11-CVE-2026-53196, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-12-CVE-2026-53196, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2204-CVE-2026-53196, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2404-CVE-2026-53196, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-53196

## What is CVE-2026-53196?

CVE-2026-53196 is a medium-severity memory corruption vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 25 Jun 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:

USB: serial: io_ti: fix heap overflow in get_manuf_info()

get_manuf_info() reads le16_to_cpu(rom_desc->Size) bytes from the
device I2C EEPROM into a buffer allocated with kmalloc_obj(), which
is sizeof(struct edge_ti_manuf_descriptor) = 10 bytes.

The Size field comes from the device and is only validated (in
check_i2c_image()) to make sure the descriptor fits within
TI_MAX_I2C_SIZE (16384 bytes), not against the destination buffer size.
A malicious USB device can therefore set Size to any value up to 16377,
causing a heap overflow of up to 16367 bytes when plugged into a host
running this driver.

valid_csum() is called after read_rom() and also iterates
buffer[0..Size-1], compounding the out-of-bounds access.

Fix by rejecting descriptors with unexpected length before calling
read_rom().

[ johan: amend commit message; also check for short descriptors ]

Weakness: CWE-787 (Out-of-bounds Write)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-53196?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2026-53196?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-53196 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-53196 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-2026-53196 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-53196 is a medium-severity memory corruption vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 25 Jun 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-2026-53196 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-2026-53196/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-53196/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-53196
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-53196
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-53196

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-53196/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.