Local service interruption via non-atomic I2C transfer
Published May 21, 2024 · Updated May 11, 2026
Availability failure in affected Linux kernel releases allows local users to disrupt emergency restart on systems using an I2C restart device. The I2C core in drivers/i2c/i2c-core.h selects a non-atomic transfer when interrupts remain enabled even though preemption is disabled, then waits for DMA completion in a context that cannot schedule. Reachability requires low-privileged local access, a kernel panic, and an I2C-backed restart path; the invalid blocking wait disrupts restart completion.
Summary
What happened
Availability failure in affected Linux kernel releases allows local users to disrupt emergency restart on systems using an I2C restart device. The I2C core in drivers/i2c/i2c-core.h selects a non-atomic transfer when interrupts remain enabled even though preemption is disabled, then waits for DMA completion in a context that cannot schedule. Reachability requires low-privileged local access, a kernel panic, and an I2C-backed restart path; the invalid blocking wait disrupts restart completion.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2023-52791
- Published
- May 21, 2024
- Updated
- May 11, 2026
- Vendor
- The Linux Kernel Organization
- Product
- Linux
- Classifications
- T1499.004
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- May 21, 2024CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- May 11, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
Present is not the same as exploitable
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Is a vulnerable build present?
Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.
- Affected versionversion=5.2
- Affected versionversion=bae1d3a05a8b99bd748168bbf8155a1d047c562e <185f3617adc8fe45e40489b458f03911f0dec46c
- Affected versionversion=bae1d3a05a8b99bd748168bbf8155a1d047c562e <25284c46b657f48c0f3880a2e0706c70d81182c0
- Affected versionversion=bae1d3a05a8b99bd748168bbf8155a1d047c562e <25eb381a736e7ae39a4245ef5c96484eb1073809
- Affected versionversion=bae1d3a05a8b99bd748168bbf8155a1d047c562e <3473cf43b9068b9dfef2f545f833f33c6a544b91
- Affected versionversion=bae1d3a05a8b99bd748168bbf8155a1d047c562e <8c3fa52a46ff4d208cefb1a462ec94e0043a91e1
- Affected versionversion=bae1d3a05a8b99bd748168bbf8155a1d047c562e <aa49c90894d06e18a1ee7c095edbd2f37c232d02
- Affected versionversion=bae1d3a05a8b99bd748168bbf8155a1d047c562e <f6237afabc349c1c7909db00e15d2816519e0d2b
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What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
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Attacks
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Weakness, pattern, technique
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Technologies
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