Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

i2c: i801: fix hardware state machine corruption in error path

A severe livelock and subsequent Hung Task panic were observed in the
i2c-i801 driver during concurrent Fuzzing. The crash is caused by an
unconditional hardware register cleanup in the error handling path of
i801_access().

When i801_check_pre() fails (e.g., returning -EBUSY because the SMBus
controller is actively used by BIOS/ACPI), the kernel does not actually
acquire the hardware ownership. However, the code jumps to the 'out'
label and executes:

iowrite8(SMBHSTSTS_INUSE_STS | STATUS_FLAGS, SMBHSTSTS(priv));

This forcefully clears the INUSE_STS lock and resets the hardware status
flags without owning the controller. Doing so interrupts ongoing BIOS/ACPI
transactions and totally corrupts the SMBus hardware state machine.

Consequently, all subsequent i801_access() calls fail at the pre-check
stage, triggering an endless stream of "SMBus is busy, can't use it!"
error logs. Over a slow serial console, this printk flood monopolizes
the CPU (Console Livelock), starving other processes trying to acquire
the mmap_lock down_read semaphore, ultimately triggering the hung task
watchdog.

Fix this by moving the 'out' label below the hardware register cleanup.
If i801_check_pre() fails, we safely bypass the iowrite8() and only
release the software locks (pm_runtime and mutex), strictly adhering to
the rule of not releasing resources that were never acquired.
Published: 2026-07-20
Score: n/a
EPSS: n/a
KEV: No
Impact: n/a
Action: n/a
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History

Mon, 20 Jul 2026 16:45:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Description In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: i2c: i801: fix hardware state machine corruption in error path A severe livelock and subsequent Hung Task panic were observed in the i2c-i801 driver during concurrent Fuzzing. The crash is caused by an unconditional hardware register cleanup in the error handling path of i801_access(). When i801_check_pre() fails (e.g., returning -EBUSY because the SMBus controller is actively used by BIOS/ACPI), the kernel does not actually acquire the hardware ownership. However, the code jumps to the 'out' label and executes: iowrite8(SMBHSTSTS_INUSE_STS | STATUS_FLAGS, SMBHSTSTS(priv)); This forcefully clears the INUSE_STS lock and resets the hardware status flags without owning the controller. Doing so interrupts ongoing BIOS/ACPI transactions and totally corrupts the SMBus hardware state machine. Consequently, all subsequent i801_access() calls fail at the pre-check stage, triggering an endless stream of "SMBus is busy, can't use it!" error logs. Over a slow serial console, this printk flood monopolizes the CPU (Console Livelock), starving other processes trying to acquire the mmap_lock down_read semaphore, ultimately triggering the hung task watchdog. Fix this by moving the 'out' label below the hardware register cleanup. If i801_check_pre() fails, we safely bypass the iowrite8() and only release the software locks (pm_runtime and mutex), strictly adhering to the rule of not releasing resources that were never acquired.
Title i2c: i801: fix hardware state machine corruption in error path
First Time appeared Linux
Linux linux Kernel
CPEs cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
Vendors & Products Linux
Linux linux Kernel
References

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Linux Linux Kernel
cve-icon MITRE

Status: PUBLISHED

Assigner: Linux

Published:

Updated: 2026-07-20T16:27:53.310Z

Reserved: 2026-07-19T15:36:31.769Z

Link: CVE-2026-64205

cve-icon Vulnrichment

No data.

cve-icon NVD

No data.

cve-icon Redhat

No data.

cve-icon OpenCVE Enrichment

Updated: 2026-07-21T02:00:17Z

Weaknesses

No weakness.