Bug 2516531 (CVE-2026-72395)

Summary: CVE-2026-72395 kernel: hwmon: (pmbus) Fix passing events to regulator core
Product: [Other] Security Response Reporter: OSIDB Bzimport <bzimport>
Component: vulnerabilityAssignee: Product Security DevOps Team <prodsec-dev>
Status: NEW --- QA Contact:
Severity: medium Docs Contact:
Priority: medium    
Version: unspecifiedCC: rhel-process-autobot, watson-tool-maintainers
Target Milestone: ---Keywords: Security
Target Release: ---   
Hardware: All   
OS: Linux   
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Doc Text:
A flaw was found in the Linux kernel's hwmon (pmbus) subsystem. A worker designed to batch regulator events can combine multiple distinct hardware fault events into a single bitmask. This combined bitmask is then incorrectly processed by the critical hardware protection function, `regulator_handle_critical()`, causing it to bypass essential safety mechanisms. This could prevent the system from properly responding to critical hardware faults, potentially leading to system instability or damage.
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oVirt Team: --- RHEL 7.3 requirements from Atomic Host:
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Description OSIDB Bzimport 2026-08-15 06:17:23 UTC
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

hwmon: (pmbus) Fix passing events to regulator core

Sashiko reports:

Commit 754bd2b4a084 ("hwmon: (pmbus/core) Protect regulator operations with
mutex") introduced a worker to batch regulator events over time using
atomic_or(). The delayed worker then passes the combined bitmask unmodified
to regulator_notifier_call_chain().

The core regulator subsystem's regulator_handle_critical() function
evaluates the event parameter using a strict switch statement. If
multiple distinct faults occur before the worker runs (e.g.,
REGULATOR_EVENT_UNDER_VOLTAGE | REGULATOR_EVENT_OVER_CURRENT), the combined
bitmask fails to match any case. This leaves the reason as NULL and
completely bypasses the critical hw_protection_trigger().

Fix the problem by passing events bit by bit to the regulator event
handler.