CVE-2020-36780

Service interruption via leaked I2C power references

Published Feb 28, 2024 · Updated May 11, 2026

Resource leak in the Spreadtrum I2C driver in affected Linux kernel releases allows local users to interrupt service after failed power-resume calls. sprd_i2c_master_xfer() and sprd_i2c_remove() call pm_runtime_get_sync(), which increments the usage counter even on failure, but their error paths omit the balancing decrement. Exploitation requires local low-privilege access, a high-complexity failed runtime-resume path, and the affected Spreadtrum I2C driver; confidentiality and integrity are not affected.

CVSS severity4.7
Medium
EPSS probability0.23%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
Coverage for this vulnerability

See if you're affected

Explore vulnerability checks for your environment with Hinoki.

Book a demo

Summary

What happened

Resource leak in the Spreadtrum I2C driver in affected Linux kernel releases allows local users to interrupt service after failed power-resume calls. sprd_i2c_master_xfer() and sprd_i2c_remove() call pm_runtime_get_sync(), which increments the usage counter even on failure, but their error paths omit the balancing decrement. Exploitation requires local low-privilege access, a high-complexity failed runtime-resume path, and the affected Spreadtrum I2C driver; confidentiality and integrity are not affected.

The record

CVE
CVE-2020-36780
Published
Feb 28, 2024
Updated
May 11, 2026
Vendor
The Linux Kernel Organization
Product
Linux
Classifications
T1499.004
Attack vector
local
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Feb 28, 2024CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. May 11, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

Compare your product and version with the public record. A matching version still requires validation against your environment.

Is a vulnerable build present?

Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.

  1. Affected versionversion=4.14
  2. Affected versionversion=8b9ec0719834fe66146d138d62ed66cef025c864 <3a4f326463117cee3adcb72999ca34a9aaafda93
  3. Affected versionversion=8b9ec0719834fe66146d138d62ed66cef025c864 <7e1764312440c5df9dfe6b436035a03673b0c1b9
  4. Affected versionversion=8b9ec0719834fe66146d138d62ed66cef025c864 <9223505e938ba3db5907e058f4209770cff2f2a7
  5. Affected versionversion=8b9ec0719834fe66146d138d62ed66cef025c864 <d3406ab52097328a3bc4cbe124bfd8f6d51fb86f
  6. Affected versionversion=8b9ec0719834fe66146d138d62ed66cef025c864 <e547640cee7981fd751d2c9cde3a61bdb678b755

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

The Linux Kernel Organization · Linuxversion=4.14; version=8b9ec0719834fe66146d138d62ed66cef025c864 <3a4f326463117cee3adcb72999ca34a9aaafda93; version=8b9ec0719834fe66146d138d62ed66cef025c864 <7e1764312440c5df9dfe6b436035a03673b0c1b9; version=8b9ec0719834fe66146d138d62ed66cef025c864 <9223505e938ba3db5907e058f4209770cff2f2a7; version=8b9ec0719834fe66146d138d62ed66cef025c864 <d3406ab52097328a3bc4cbe124bfd8f6d51fb86f; version=8b9ec0719834fe66146d138d62ed66cef025c864 <e547640cee7981fd751d2c9cde3a61bdb678b755

Published CVSS scores

4.7CISA-ADPCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.

Attacks

What attackers are doing with it

Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.

Daily unique IPsNo honeypot observations are available for this CVE in the selected window.

No observations available

Sep 9, 2026Sep 15, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 15, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectorlocal
Privilegesauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

T1499.004Application or System Exploitation

Public exploit references

No public exploit references are available in this record.

Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.

Technologies

Your stack

See the directory against your own environment.

Your stack

Check the software in your environment

Book a demo to see how Hinoki identifies affected software and validates exploitability in your environment.

Book a demo