# CVE-2026-72238: x86/boot: Validate console=uart8250 baud rate to fix early boot hang

> An attacker with local access or control over boot parameters can cause a system hang during early boot by specifying an invalid UART baud rate.

- **Severity:** Not scored
- **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:** 15 Aug 2026
- **Updated:** 17 Aug 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2026-72238, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-72238, GHSA-phw4-wh3r-2wj6, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-72238

## What is CVE-2026-72238?

CVE-2026-72238 is a denial of service vulnerability in Linux, published on 15 Aug 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:

x86/boot: Validate console=uart8250 baud rate to fix early boot hang

When the baud rate is empty, 0, invalid, or overflows to 0 when stored
as an int, the system will hang during early boot because of a division
by zero in early_serial_init().

Fall back to DEFAULT_BAUD when the resulting baud rate is 0 to prevent
an early system hang.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-72238?


## How do I fix CVE-2026-72238?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-72238 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-72238 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-72238 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-72238 is a denial of service vulnerability in Linux, published on 15 Aug 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-2026-72238 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-2026-72238/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-72238/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-72238
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-72238
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-72238

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-72238/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.