CVE-2026-22986: gpiolib: fix race condition for gdev->srcu

Vulnerability summary

CVE-2026-22986 is a medium (CVSS 4.7) vulnerability in linux. EPSS estimates a 0.10% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 0.8% of scored vulnerabilities.

Timeline

1. 23-01-2026
   PublishedVulnerability first disclosed.
2. 11-05-2026
   Last modifiedVulnerability information updated.

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: gpiolib: fix race condition for gdev->srcu If two drivers were calling gpiochip_add_data_with_key(), one may be traversing the srcu-protected list in gpio_name_to_desc(), meanwhile other has just added its gdev in gpiodev_add_to_list_unlocked(). This creates a non-mutexed and non-protected timeframe, when one instance is dereferencing and using &gdev->srcu, before the other has initialized it, resulting in crash: [ 4.935481] Unable to handle kernel paging request at virtual address ffff800272bcc000 [ 4.943396] Mem abort info: [ 4.943400] ESR = 0x0000000096000005 [ 4.943403] EC = 0x25: DABT (current EL), IL = 32 bits [ 4.943407] SET = 0, FnV = 0 [ 4.943410] EA = 0, S1PTW = 0 [ 4.943413] FSC = 0x05: level 1 translation fault [ 4.943416] Data abort info: [ 4.943418] ISV = 0, ISS = 0x00000005, ISS2 = 0x00000000 [ 4.946220] CM = 0, WnR = 0, TnD = 0, TagAccess = 0 [ 4.955261] GCS = 0, Overlay = 0, DirtyBit = 0, Xs = 0 [ 4.955268] swapper pgtable: 4k pages, 48-bit VAs, pgdp=0000000038e6c000 [ 4.961449] [ffff800272bcc000] pgd=0000000000000000 [ 4.969203] , p4d=1000000039739003 [ 4.979730] , pud=0000000000000000 [ 4.980210] phandle (CPU): 0x0000005e, phandle (BE): 0x5e000000 for node "reset" [ 4.991736] Internal error: Oops: 0000000096000005 [#1] PREEMPT SMP ... [ 5.121359] pc : __srcu_read_lock+0x44/0x98 [ 5.131091] lr : gpio_name_to_desc+0x60/0x1a0 [ 5.153671] sp : ffff8000833bb430 [ 5.298440] [ 5.298443] Call trace: [ 5.298445] __srcu_read_lock+0x44/0x98 [ 5.309484] gpio_name_to_desc+0x60/0x1a0 [ 5.320692] gpiochip_add_data_with_key+0x488/0xf00 5.946419] ---[ end trace 0000000000000000 ]--- Move initialization code for gdev fields before it is added to gpio_devices, with adjacent initialization code. Adjust goto statements to reflect modified order of operations [Bartosz: fixed a build issue, removed stray newline]

• CWE-362Concurrent Execution using Shared Resource with Improper SynchronizationThe product contains a concurrent code sequence that requires temporary, exclusive access to a shared resource, but a timing window exists in which the shared resource can be modified by another code sequence operating concurrently.