# CVE-2026-90338: serial: amba-pl011: keep console clock enabled for atomic writes

> A Linux kernel bug in the PL011 serial driver causes a crash when printing logs in atomic contexts on PREEMPT_RT systems, leading to denial of service.

- **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:** 17 Sep 2026
- **Updated:** 19 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2026-90338, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-90338, GHSA-hxcg-grxr-xv6j, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-90338

## What is CVE-2026-90338?

CVE-2026-90338 is a denial of service vulnerability in Linux, published on 17 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:

serial: amba-pl011: keep console clock enabled for atomic writes

pl011_console_write_atomic() runs from nbcon atomic context, where
sleeping is not allowed. It calls clk_enable(), which takes the common-clk
enable_lock. Under PREEMPT_RT that is a sleeping lock:
clk_enable_lock() first tries spin_trylock_irqsave(), but on contention
falls back to spin_lock_irqsave(). Therefore, an atomic-context printk on
an RT kernel with a clk-backed pl011 can trip:

  BUG: sleeping function called from invalid context at spinlock_rt.c:48
    __might_resched from rt_spin_lock
    rt_spin_lock from clk_enable_lock
    clk_enable_lock from clk_enable
    clk_enable from pl011_console_write_atomic
    ... from vprintk_emit

This was found and reproduced on PREEMPT_RT. Arm32 and arm64 DT SoCs are
affected; arm64 SBSA/ACPI has no clk, so clk_enable(NULL) short-circuits
before the lock. In addition, write_atomic() may be invoked from NMI
context and is documented to avoid locking. Removing clk_enable() from
the callback also avoids a potentially unsafe NMI acquisition of the
common-clock enable_lock.

An nbcon atomic-capable console must be printable from any context, so
the clock cannot be gated between writes. Enable the clock while the
console is available for output: use clk_prepare_enable() in
pl011_console_setup(), release it via clk_disable_unprepare() in the
console .exit() callback, and drop the per-write clk_enable()/clk_disable()
pairs from write_atomic() and write_thread().

When printk suspends consoles, drop the reference after
uart_suspend_port() stops console access and restore it before
uart_resume_port() -- but only if suspend actually marked the port
suspended (a wake-capable tty stays running and must keep its clock), and
keep it when console_suspend_enabled is false so no_console_suspend works.

The active power cost of keeping the clock enabled is platform-dependent:
none where the UART clock is a fixed always-on oscillator, real where it
is a gateable clock branch, which then cannot be gated (nor possibly can
its parent clocks) while the console is available for output. When serial
core actually suspends the port, the reference is released so the clock
provider can gate the clock tree.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-90338?


## How do I fix CVE-2026-90338?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-90338 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-90338 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-90338 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-90338 is a denial of service vulnerability in Linux, published on 17 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-2026-90338 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-2026-90338/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-90338/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-90338
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-90338
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-90338

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-90338/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.