In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
i2c: virtio: disable timeout handling
If a timeout is hit, it can result is incorrect data on the I2C bus
and/or memory corruptions in the guest since the device can still be
operating on the buffers it was given while the guest has freed them.
Here is, for example, the start of a slub_debug splat which was
triggered on the next transfer after one transfer was forced to timeout
by setting a breakpoint in the backend (rust-vmm/vhost-device):
BUG kmalloc-1k (Not tainted): Poison overwritten
First byte 0x1 instead of 0x6b
Allocated in virtio_i2c_xfer+0x65/0x35c age=350 cpu=0 pid=29
__kmalloc+0xc2/0x1c9
virtio_i2c_xfer+0x65/0x35c
__i2c_transfer+0x429/0x57d
i2c_transfer+0x115/0x134
i2cdev_ioctl_rdwr+0x16a/0x1de
i2cdev_ioctl+0x247/0x2ed
vfs_ioctl+0x21/0x30
sys_ioctl+0xb18/0xb41
Freed in virtio_i2c_xfer+0x32e/0x35c age=244 cpu=0 pid=29
kfree+0x1bd/0x1cc
virtio_i2c_xfer+0x32e/0x35c
__i2c_transfer+0x429/0x57d
i2c_transfer+0x115/0x134
i2cdev_ioctl_rdwr+0x16a/0x1de
i2cdev_ioctl+0x247/0x2ed
vfs_ioctl+0x21/0x30
sys_ioctl+0xb18/0xb41
There is no simple fix for this (the driver would have to always create
bounce buffers and hold on to them until the device eventually returns
the buffers), so just disable the timeout support for now.
What the EG score is made of (scorer v4.0: the three questions the 0–10 score mixes, published apart · methodology)
The EG score (7.8): severity, escalated by confirmed exploitation. This CVE's 7.8 is its impact severity (EG Severity), not escalated.
- EG Severity
- 7.8 HIGHCVSS-B, impact only: no KEV listing, EPSS or EG-KEV tier raises it.NVD CVSS v3 · CVSS v3.0 or v3.1
- EG Likelihood
- 0.2% within 30 daysSource: FIRST EPSS (model v2026.06.15, score date 2026-10-27). FIRST's exploitation probability, not an EchelonGraph model.
- Confirmed exploitation
- None on record (CISA KEV, EG-KEV Tier 1)Reported apart from the likelihood: an observed fact, not a probability.
- EG Priority
- SSVC Track at medium mission impactTrack at every mission impact level.CISA BOD 26-04: 60 days if the affected system is publicly exposed; Fix on system upgrade if it is not.Each input and its source, and whom BOD 26-04 binds: the SSVC and BOD 26-04 blocks below.
SSVC (CISA's decision table, applied by EchelonGraph)Track at every mission impact level.
A fix is available. Apply it within your standard update timelines.
Exploitation none (CISA Vulnrichment) · Automatable no (CISA Vulnrichment) · Technical impact partial (CISA Vulnrichment). All three are CISA's SSVC values (Vulnrichment). EchelonGraph applied CISA's decision table to them; CISA publishes SSVC inputs and the table, not a decision for each CVE. Mission impact is CISA's Mission & Well-being decision point, and only you can judge it. CISA's table makes it high when Mission Prevalence is Essential — the vulnerable component "directly provides capabilities that constitute at least one MEF for at least one entity" (MEF: mission essential function) — or when Public Well-Being Impact is Irreversible: "multiple fatalities are likely", the cyber-physical system "is likely lost or destroyed", "extreme or serious externalities" are imposed on other parties, or social systems such as elections or the financial grid "are destabilized and potentially collapse". CISA's decision table
BOD 26-04 (CISA's remediation timeline, Table 1)60 days if the affected system is publicly exposed; Fix on system upgrade if it is not.
The score's inputs: In CISA KEV no (CISA's KEV catalog) · Automatable no (CISA Vulnrichment) · Technical impact partial (CISA Vulnrichment). Whether your system is publicly exposed is yours to answer. BOD 26-04 binds US Federal Civilian Executive Branch agencies; for anyone else it is CISA's published timeline, a reference rather than an obligation. The directive · how EchelonGraph applies it