GHSA-HPJX-F9R3-XJ76
Vulnerability from github – Published: 2026-08-22 18:30 – Updated: 2026-08-27 15:31In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
serial: 8250_of: clear stuck empty-FIFO RX-timeout on LPC32xx
The NXP LPC32xx UART (PORT_LPC3220) can latch an RX character-timeout interrupt while the RX FIFO is empty: IIR reports UART_IIR_RX_TIMEOUT (0x0c) but LSR.DR is clear. A character timeout is only cleared by reading RHR, but serial8250_rx_chars() reads RHR only when LSR.DR is set, so nothing ever clears the condition. The interrupt is level-triggered and re-fires immediately, so on a single-core ARM926 the resulting interrupt storm livelocks the CPU.
It is reproducible when userspace repeatedly opens the front-panel port (ttyS1): serial8250_do_set_termios() re-enables interrupts on unlock and the handler then spins forever with iir=0xcc lsr=0x60 ier=0x05, tripping the soft-lockup detector in serial8250_handle_irq_locked().
LPC32xx has no dedicated 8250 glue driver, it's driven by the generic 8250_of. Add a hardware specific handle_irq for PORT_LPC3220, wired up in of_platform_serial_setup() the same way fsl8250_handle_irq is installed. The handler follows dw8250_handle_irq(): on an RX timeout with an empty FIFO (LSR.DR and LSR.BI clear) it does one throwaway RHR read to clear the condition, then calls serial8250_handle_irq_locked(). No real received data is ever discarded, and it is a no-op on healthy UARTs which never report a timeout with DR clear.
This is the same class of bug already worked around in other 8250 drivers; see commit 424d79183af0 ("serial: 8250_dw: Avoid "too much work" from bogus rx timeout interrupt") which reports the identical iir=0xcc/lsr=0x60. See also UART_RX_TIMEOUT_QUIRK in 8250_omap, and the note in 8250_bcm7271.
{
"affected": [],
"aliases": [
"CVE-2026-74653"
],
"database_specific": {
"cwe_ids": [],
"github_reviewed": false,
"github_reviewed_at": null,
"nvd_published_at": "2026-08-22T16:16:38Z",
"severity": null
},
"details": "In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\nserial: 8250_of: clear stuck empty-FIFO RX-timeout on LPC32xx\n\nThe NXP LPC32xx UART (PORT_LPC3220) can latch an RX character-timeout\ninterrupt while the RX FIFO is empty: IIR reports UART_IIR_RX_TIMEOUT\n(0x0c) but LSR.DR is clear. A character timeout is only cleared by\nreading RHR, but serial8250_rx_chars() reads RHR only when LSR.DR is\nset, so nothing ever clears the condition. The interrupt is\nlevel-triggered and re-fires immediately, so on a single-core ARM926\nthe resulting interrupt storm livelocks the CPU.\n\nIt is reproducible when userspace repeatedly opens the front-panel port\n(ttyS1): serial8250_do_set_termios() re-enables interrupts on unlock and\nthe handler then spins forever with iir=0xcc lsr=0x60 ier=0x05, tripping\nthe soft-lockup detector in serial8250_handle_irq_locked().\n\nLPC32xx has no dedicated 8250 glue driver, it\u0027s driven by the generic\n8250_of. Add a hardware specific handle_irq for PORT_LPC3220, wired up\nin of_platform_serial_setup() the same way fsl8250_handle_irq is\ninstalled. The handler follows dw8250_handle_irq(): on an RX timeout\nwith an empty FIFO (LSR.DR and LSR.BI clear) it does one throwaway RHR\nread to clear the condition, then calls serial8250_handle_irq_locked().\nNo real received data is ever discarded, and it is a no-op on healthy\nUARTs which never report a timeout with DR clear.\n\nThis is the same class of bug already worked around in other 8250 drivers;\nsee commit 424d79183af0 (\"serial: 8250_dw: Avoid \"too much work\" from bogus rx timeout interrupt\")\nwhich reports the identical iir=0xcc/lsr=0x60. See also\nUART_RX_TIMEOUT_QUIRK in 8250_omap, and the note in 8250_bcm7271.",
"id": "GHSA-hpjx-f9r3-xj76",
"modified": "2026-08-27T15:31:30Z",
"published": "2026-08-22T18:30:28Z",
"references": [
{
"type": "ADVISORY",
"url": "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-74653"
},
{
"type": "WEB",
"url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/1423415471274abda87024967d7fe2206ceee0ea"
},
{
"type": "WEB",
"url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/3ce24bc4d115336218e59b7e286fd3a79f4fc4c6"
},
{
"type": "WEB",
"url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/7795e8abedc86438cae0454602cbf9038b94bf38"
},
{
"type": "WEB",
"url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/c321dc5172c8c66e21ffbeeb7a2ebb88ae6fd4c3"
}
],
"schema_version": "1.4.0",
"severity": []
}
Sightings
| Author | Source | Type | Date | Other |
|---|
Nomenclature
- Seen: The vulnerability was mentioned, discussed, or observed by the user.
- Confirmed: The vulnerability has been validated from an analyst's perspective.
- Published Proof of Concept: A public proof of concept is available for this vulnerability.
- Exploited: The vulnerability was observed as exploited by the user who reported the sighting.
- Patched: The vulnerability was observed as successfully patched by the user who reported the sighting.
- Not exploited: The vulnerability was not observed as exploited by the user who reported the sighting.
- Not confirmed: The user expressed doubt about the validity of the vulnerability.
- Not patched: The vulnerability was not observed as successfully patched by the user who reported the sighting.
The approach is described in our paper Mapping CVEs to MITRE ATT&CK Techniques: A Curated Gold-Set Classifier and the Limits of LLM-Assisted Label Expansion.