Bug 2535179 (CVE-2026-89983)

Summary:	CVE-2026-89983 kernel: i2c: core: fix debugfs UAF on adapter removal
Product:	[Other] Security Response	Reporter:	OSIDB Bzimport <bzimport>
Component:	vulnerability	Assignee:	Product Security DevOps Team <prodsec-dev>
Status:	NEW ---	QA Contact:
Severity:	medium	Docs Contact:
Priority:	medium
Version:	unspecified	CC:	akhatavk, aos-team-art-private, asdas, dpaolell, jdelft, jupierce, lgarciaa, mbiarnes, ppalepu, ppostler, prdhamdh, rhel-process-autobot, sghai, sidsharm, suppawar, vlaad, watson-tool-maintainers
Target Milestone:	---	Keywords:	Security
Target Release:	---
Hardware:	All
OS:	Linux
Whiteboard:
Fixed In Version:		Doc Type:	---
Doc Text:	A flaw was found in the Linux kernel's I2C subsystem. A race condition during adapter removal allows a local user to cause a Denial of Service (DoS) by crashing or hanging the system. When an I2C adapter is being deleted while a user concurrently creates a device through the sysfs interface, the kernel may access memory that has already been freed. This triggers a use-after-free flaw or prevents cleanup from completing, resulting in a kernel panic or an unrecoverable hang.	Story Points:	---
Clone Of:		Environment:
Last Closed:		Type:	---
Regression:	---	Mount Type:	---
Documentation:	---	CRM:
Verified Versions:		Category:	---
oVirt Team:	---	RHEL 7.3 requirements from Atomic Host:
Cloudforms Team:	---	Target Upstream Version:
Embargoed:

Description OSIDB Bzimport 2026-09-16 11:12:17 UTC

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

i2c: core: fix debugfs UAF on adapter removal

i2c_del_adapter() frees the adapter's debugfs directory before it
unregisters the adapter device, but the new_device sysfs attribute
stays writable until device_del(). A write racing with removal still
reaches i2c_device_probe(), which passes the freed adap->debugfs to
debugfs_create_dir() as the new client's parent:

  BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in lookup_noperm_common+0x407/0x430
  Read of size 4 at addr ffff88803ef87810 by task syz.0.61/6090
   lookup_noperm_common+0x407/0x430
   simple_start_creating+0x9c/0x110
   debugfs_start_creating+0xdb/0x1a0
   debugfs_create_dir+0x24/0x350
   i2c_device_probe+0x814/0xbf0

It's technically possible to create a client after i2c_deregister_clients
has run. That client will never be unregistered and make
wait_for_completion hang.

Close the window by removing the new_device attribute at the start of
i2c_del_adapter(). device_remove_file() will drain any clients left.

Comment 1 Keith Grant 2026-09-16 20:38:55 UTC

Upstream advisory:
https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/security/vulns.git/plain/cve/published/2026/CVE-2026-89983.mbox