CVE-2026-23055
Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
i2c: riic: Move suspend handling to NOIRQ phase
Commit 53326135d0e0 ("i2c: riic: Add suspend/resume support") added suspend support for the Renesas I2C driver and following this change on RZ/G3E the following WARNING is seen on entering suspend ...
[ 134.275704] Freezing remaining freezable tasks completed (elapsed 0.001 seconds) [ 134.285536] ------------[ cut here ]------------ [ 134.290298] i2c i2c-2: Transfer while suspended [ 134.295174] WARNING: drivers/i2c/i2c-core.h:56 at __i2c_smbus_xfer+0x1e4/0x214, CPU#0: systemd-sleep/388 [ 134.365507] Tainted: [W]=WARN [ 134.368485] Hardware name: Renesas SMARC EVK version 2 based on r9a09g047e57 (DT) [ 134.375961] pstate: 60400005 (nZCv daif +PAN -UAO -TCO -DIT -SSBS BTYPE=--) [ 134.382935] pc : __i2c_smbus_xfer+0x1e4/0x214 [ 134.387329] lr : __i2c_smbus_xfer+0x1e4/0x214 [ 134.391717] sp : ffff800083f23860 [ 134.395040] x29: ffff800083f23860 x28: 0000000000000000 x27: ffff800082ed5d60 [ 134.402226] x26: 0000001f4395fd74 x25: 0000000000000007 x24: 0000000000000001 [ 134.409408] x23: 0000000000000000 x22: 000000000000006f x21: ffff800083f23936 [ 134.416589] x20: ffff0000c090e140 x19: ffff0000c090e0d0 x18: 0000000000000006 [ 134.423771] x17: 6f63657320313030 x16: 2e30206465737061 x15: ffff800083f23280 [ 134.430953] x14: 0000000000000000 x13: ffff800082b16ce8 x12: 0000000000000f09 [ 134.438134] x11: 0000000000000503 x10: ffff800082b6ece8 x9 : ffff800082b16ce8 [ 134.445315] x8 : 00000000ffffefff x7 : ffff800082b6ece8 x6 : 80000000fffff000 [ 134.452495] x5 : 0000000000000504 x4 : 0000000000000000 x3 : 0000000000000000 [ 134.459672] x2 : 0000000000000000 x1 : 0000000000000000 x0 : ffff0000c9ee9e80 [ 134.466851] Call trace: [ 134.469311] __i2c_smbus_xfer+0x1e4/0x214 (P) [ 134.473715] i2c_smbus_xfer+0xbc/0x120 [ 134.477507] i2c_smbus_read_byte_data+0x4c/0x84 [ 134.482077] isl1208_i2c_read_time+0x44/0x178 [rtc_isl1208] [ 134.487703] isl1208_rtc_read_time+0x14/0x20 [rtc_isl1208] [ 134.493226] __rtc_read_time+0x44/0x88 [ 134.497012] rtc_read_time+0x3c/0x68 [ 134.500622] rtc_suspend+0x9c/0x170
The warning is triggered because I2C transfers can still be attempted while the controller is already suspended, due to inappropriate ordering of the system sleep callbacks.
If the controller is autosuspended, there is no way to wake it up once runtime PM disabled (in suspend_late()). During system resume, the I2C controller will be available only after runtime PM is re-enabled (in resume_early()). However, this may be too late for some devices.
Wake up the controller in the suspend() callback while runtime PM is still enabled. The I2C controller will remain available until the suspend_noirq() callback (pm_runtime_force_suspend()) is called. During resume, the I2C controller can be restored by the resume_noirq() callback (pm_runtime_force_resume()). Finally, the resume() callback re-enables autosuspend. As a result, the I2C controller can remain available until the system enters suspend_noirq() and from resume_noirq().
AI Insight
LLM-synthesized narrative grounded in this CVE's description and references.
A missing NOIRQ phase in the Renesas I2C driver causes a 'Transfer while suspended' warning, potentially leading to system instability during suspend.
Vulnerability
Overview
In the Linux kernel, the i2c: riic driver for Renesas I2C controllers had a suspend/resume handling issue introduced by commit 53326135d0e0. The driver's suspend callback was not executed in the NOIRQ phase, causing I2C transfers to be attempted after the controller was already suspended. This triggers a kernel warning and can lead to undefined behavior or system instability.
Exploitation
Conditions
The vulnerability is triggered during system suspend when an I2C device (e.g., an RTC like isl1208) attempts a transfer after the controller has been suspended. The attack surface is local; an attacker would need to influence the suspend sequence or have control over an I2C client driver that initiates transfers at the wrong time. No authentication is required beyond the ability to trigger a suspend (e.g., via systemd-sleep).
Impact
A successful trigger results in a kernel WARNING and potential data corruption or lockups. While not directly exploitable for privilege escalation, it can cause denial of service by preventing proper suspend/resume cycles or crashing the system. The warning indicates a race condition that could be leveraged for more severe impacts if combined with other vulnerabilities.
Mitigation
The fix moves the suspend handling to the NOIRQ phase, ensuring I2C transfers are not attempted after the controller is suspended. The patch is included in stable kernel updates [1]. Users should apply the latest kernel updates from their distribution. No workaround is available; the issue is resolved by the commit referenced.
AI Insight generated on May 19, 2026. Synthesized from this CVE's description and the cited reference URLs; citations are validated against the source bundle.
Affected products
1Patches
0No patches discovered yet.
Vulnerability mechanics
AI mechanics synthesis has not run for this CVE yet.
References
3News mentions
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