published August 15, 2026
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
i2c: imx: fix locked bus on SMBus block-read of 0 (atomic)
SMBus 3.1 6.5.7 allows a Block Read byte count of 0, but the atomic
(polling) path rejects it as -EPROTO. Worse, it returns without a
NACK+STOP: the next receive cycle has already started, so the target
keeps holding SDA and the bus stays stuck until a power cycle for
this i2c controller.
Reading I2DR to obtain the count likewise arms the next byte on the
count > I2C_SMBUS_BLOCK_MAX path, which also returned -EPROTO directly
and left the bus held.
Handle both: NACK the in-flight dummy byte (TXAK) and extend msgs->len so
the existing last-byte handling emits STOP; the dummy byte is discarded.
A count of 0 is a valid empty block read; a count above
I2C_SMBUS_BLOCK_MAX is still reported as -EPROTO, but only after the bus
has been released.
The interrupt-driven path has the same flaw from a later commit and is
fixed separately, as it carries a different Fixes: tag and stable range.