Kernel crash via stale slave timeout callback
Published Aug 15, 2026 · Updated Aug 15, 2026
A race condition in the Linux IMX I2C slave driver allows attackers to crash the kernel through a stale timer callback. The i2c_imx_unreg_slave function clears the slave pointer without first canceling a pending high-resolution timer, allowing i2c_imx_slave_finish_op to pass a NULL pointer to i2c_imx_slave_event. Triggering requires the IMX controller to operate in I2C slave mode with a pending timeout during client unregistration; the resulting use-after-free or NULL dereference interrupts the system.
Summary
What happened
A race condition in the Linux IMX I2C slave driver allows attackers to crash the kernel through a stale timer callback. The i2c_imx_unreg_slave function clears the slave pointer without first canceling a pending high-resolution timer, allowing i2c_imx_slave_finish_op to pass a NULL pointer to i2c_imx_slave_event. Triggering requires the IMX controller to operate in I2C slave mode with a pending timeout during client unregistration; the resulting use-after-free or NULL dereference interrupts the system.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2026-74461
- Published
- Aug 15, 2026
- Updated
- Aug 15, 2026
- Vendor
- The Linux Kernel Organization
- Product
- Linux
- Classifications
- Unavailable
- Attack vector
- Unavailable
- Privileges
- Unavailable
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Aug 15, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Aug 15, 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=5.11
- Affected versionversion=f7414cd6923fd7f78e57086fc964ba2dc25db5c1 <6ac7702b6cc2b94aaed9ef2d95bfbefcdc90061f
- Affected versionversion=f7414cd6923fd7f78e57086fc964ba2dc25db5c1 <753060f2b77ff2f386addbd3ecadb95b9f90cddd
- Affected versionversion=f7414cd6923fd7f78e57086fc964ba2dc25db5c1 <a8a1f9ac3d763e721586f15479ef9140b216ddf3
- Affected versionversion=f7414cd6923fd7f78e57086fc964ba2dc25db5c1 <affd62f5719a78135b7441aa49c8cab3c3b5e838
- Affected versionversion=f7414cd6923fd7f78e57086fc964ba2dc25db5c1 <dab4762ee7f3fd0a01980d5407ba48d0261d3bff
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
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Attacks
What attackers are doing with it
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Weakness, pattern, technique
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Public exploit references
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Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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