System hang via ownerless SMBus status cleanup
Published Jul 20, 2026 · Updated Jul 20, 2026
Denial of service in the Linux kernel i2c-i801 driver allows local users to hang affected systems through concurrent SMBus access. The i801_access() error path clears INUSE_STS and hardware status flags after i801_check_pre() fails, although the driver never acquired the SMBus controller. Concurrent BIOS or ACPI controller use is required; the corrupted state produces repeated busy errors and a console livelock that can trigger a hung-task panic.
Summary
What happened
Denial of service in the Linux kernel i2c-i801 driver allows local users to hang affected systems through concurrent SMBus access. The i801_access() error path clears INUSE_STS and hardware status flags after i801_check_pre() fails, although the driver never acquired the SMBus controller. Concurrent BIOS or ACPI controller use is required; the corrupted state produces repeated busy errors and a console livelock that can trigger a hung-task panic.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2026-64205
- Published
- Jul 20, 2026
- Updated
- Jul 20, 2026
- Vendor
- The Linux Kernel Organization
- Product
- Linux Kernel
- Classifications
- T1499
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Jul 20, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Jul 20, 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=1f760b87e54cf56a25ab68f8dc625e339f6e46d5 <00904687b9c5527d569d9a1ca72119823e735a61
- Affected versionversion=1f760b87e54cf56a25ab68f8dc625e339f6e46d5 <10dd1a736d557e310a77117832874729a0175d57
- Affected versionversion=1f760b87e54cf56a25ab68f8dc625e339f6e46d5 <bb5133a7d5f3fe5c387770e25f2e00e682ce11ed
- Affected versionversion=6.3
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
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Attacks
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Weakness, pattern, technique
Public exploit references
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Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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