# CVE-2026-81017: platform/chrome: sensorhub: Bound the EC-reported sensor number

> An out-of-bounds read and write in the Linux kernel sensorhub driver allows attackers to potentially execute code or escalate privileges via malformed EC events.

- **Severity:** High 8.4 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/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:** 11 Sep 2026
- **Updated:** 19 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2026-81017, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-81017, GHSA-9fvp-phgh-6gx2, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-81017

## What is CVE-2026-81017?

CVE-2026-81017 is a high-severity memory corruption vulnerability in Linux, published on 11 Sep 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:

platform/chrome: sensorhub: Bound the EC-reported sensor number

Each EC FIFO event carries an 8-bit sensor number (in->sensor_num).
cros_ec_sensorhub_ring_handler() validates the FIFO event count, the
per-read count and the ring bound, but not the sensor number, which
cros_ec_sensor_ring_process_event() then uses unchecked to index
sensorhub->batch_state[] - allocated with only sensorhub->sensor_num
entries. A sensor number of sensor_num or larger is an out-of-bounds
read and write of batch_state[].

Validate the sensor number in the ring handler, where each event is read
from the EC, and drop a malformed event before it is used.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-81017?


## How do I fix CVE-2026-81017?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-81017 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-81017 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-81017 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-81017 is a high-severity memory corruption vulnerability in Linux, published on 11 Sep 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-2026-81017 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-2026-81017/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-81017/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-81017
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-81017
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-81017

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-81017/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.