CVE-2026-80678 i2c: imx: Fix slave registration race and error handling
A race condition in the Linux kernel i2c imx driver can cause a NULL pointer dereference, leading to a denial of service.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- Not needed
- Attackable
- Local or same network only
- Victim action needed
- Not needed
- Fix
- Available
What is CVE-2026-80678?
CVE-2026-80678 is a high-severity vulnerability in Linux, published on 28 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:
i2c: imx: Fix slave registration race and error handling
In i2c_imx_reg_slave(), the slave pointer was assigned before pm_runtime_resume_and_get(). If pm_runtime_resume_and_get() failed, the error path returned without clearing i2c_imx->slave, leaving it non-NULL and causing all subsequent registration attempts to fail with -EBUSY.
Additionally, because this driver uses a shared IRQ, the interrupt handler i2c_imx_isr() can execute concurrently and, after acquiring slave_lock, dereference i2c_imx->slave. The previous fix attempt added a lockless i2c_imx->slave = NULL on the error path, but that could race with the ISR under the lock and still cause a NULL pointer dereference.
Fix both issues by deferring the assignment of i2c_imx->slave and i2c_imx->last_slave_event to after a successful resume, and by performing the assignment inside the slave_lock critical section. This guarantees that the slave pointer is never left stale on the error path and is always valid when observed by the interrupt handler.
Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-80678?
How do I fix CVE-2026-80678?
Apply the vendor's patch.
Is CVE-2026-80678 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-80678 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Sources
Also known as AZL-98081, BELL-CVE-2026-80678, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-80678, GHSA-gjgg-c5pr-g266, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-80678.