Medium · published June 24, 2026
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
i2c: dev: prevent integer overflow in I2C_TIMEOUT ioctl
While fuzzing with Syzkaller, a persistent `schedule_timeout: wrong
timeout value` warning was observed, accompanied by SMBus controller
state machine corruption.
The I2C_TIMEOUT ioctl accepts a user-provided timeout in multiples of
10 ms. The user argument is checked against INT_MAX, but it is
subsequently multiplied by 10 before being passed to msecs_to_jiffies().
A malicious user can pass a large value (e.g., 429496729) that passes
the `arg > INT_MAX` check but overflows when multiplied by 10. This
results in a truncated 32-bit unsigned value that bypasses the
internal `(int)m < 0` check in `msecs_to_jiffies()`.
The truncated value is then assigned to `client->adapter->timeout`
(a signed 32-bit int), which is reinterpreted as a negative number.
When passed to wait_for_completion_timeout(), this negative value
undergoes sign extension to a 64-bit unsigned long, triggering the
`schedule_timeout` warning and causing premature returns. This leaves
the SMBus state machine in an unrecoverable state, constituting a
local Denial of Service (DoS).
Fix this by bounding the user argument to `INT_MAX / 10`.
[wsa: move the comment as well]
| Product | Versions | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
| linux/linux_kernel | ≥ 2.6.29.1, < 5.10.259 | 5.10.259 |
| linux/linux_kernel | ≥ 5.11, < 5.15.210 | 5.15.210 |
| linux/linux_kernel | ≥ 5.16, < 6.1.176 | 6.1.176 |
| linux/linux_kernel | ≥ 6.2, < 6.6.143 | 6.6.143 |
| linux/linux_kernel | ≥ 6.7, < 6.12.94 | 6.12.94 |
| linux/linux_kernel | ≥ 6.13, < 6.18.36 | 6.18.36 |
| linux/linux_kernel | ≥ 6.19, < 7.0.13 | 7.0.13 |
| linux/linux_kernel | all versions | — |
| linux/linux_kernel | all versions | — |
| linux/linux_kernel | all versions | — |
| linux/linux_kernel | all versions | — |
| linux/linux_kernel | all versions | — |