● Not verified

How to Fix CVE-2026-23055: Critical Vulnerability in Linux

Q: Is CVE-2026-23055 being exploited in the wild?

Public exploitation has not been confirmed by CISA at the time of writing. Treat the patch as time-sensitive anyway; reports often lag actual abuse.

Q: Will a WAF or IDS rule fully mitigate CVE-2026-23055?

No. Network-layer filters can reduce noise and slow opportunistic scanners, but they will not stop a determined attacker. The vendor patch is the only durable fix.

Q: How long should I plan for the upgrade?

Typical vendor-documented upgrade windows for Linux run from a few minutes to under an hour depending on cluster size. Test in a staging environment first and follow the vendor's documented HA upgrade order.

Other vulnerabilities in the same area that are worth patching alongside this one:

How to Fix CVE-2026-43326: Security Vulnerability in Linux — Security Vulnerability in Linux
How to Fix CVE-2026-23145: Critical Vulnerability in Linux — Critical Vulnerability in Linux
How to Fix CVE-2026-23236: Security vulnerability in Linux , Security vulnerability in Linux
How to Fix CVE-2026-31581: ALSA: 6fire: fix use-after-free on disconnect in Linux , ALSA: 6fire: fix use-after-free on disconnect in Linux
How to Fix CVE-2026-31486: hwmon: (pmbus/core) Protect regulator operations with mutex in Linux , hwmon: (pmbus/core) Protect regulator operations with mutex in Linux

*By Sai Kiran Pandrala*

⚡ At a glance


Severity	Not verified - see advisory
Actively exploited?	Not currently listed in CISA KEV
Affected	53326135d0e041ebe7d08bf22f82529ae69a096e < 469f8fe4c87e43520f279e45b927c35d6fe99194, 53326135d0e041ebe7d08bf22f82529ae69a096e < 0b4c0fbbe00b7de76bdaea7fa771017d7a979b0d, 53326135d0e041ebe7d08bf22f82529ae69a096e < e383f0961422f983451ac4dd6aed1a3d3311f2be, 6.12
Fixed in	0, 6.12.67, 6.18.7, 6.19
Type (CWE)	Not verified

What is CVE-2026-23055?

CVE-2026-23055 is a security flaw in Linux. In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: i2c: riic: Move suspend handling to NOIRQ phase Commit 53326135d0e0 ("i2c: riic: Add suspend/resume support") added suspend support for the Renesas I2C driver and following this change on RZ/G3E the following WARNING is seen on entering suspend ... [ 134.275704] Freezing remaining freezable tasks completed (elapsed 0.001 seconds) [ 134.285536] ------------[ cut here ]------------ [ 134.290298] i2c i2c-2: Transfer while suspended [ 134.295174] WARNING: drivers/i2c/i2c-core.h:56 at __i2c_smbus_xfer+0x1e4/0x214, CPU#0: systemd-sleep/388 [ 134.365507] Tainted: [W]=WARN [ 134.368485] Hardware name: Renesas SMARC EVK version 2 based on r9a09g047e57 (DT) [ 134.375961] pstate: 60400005 (nZCv daif +PAN -UAO -TCO -DIT -SSBS BTYPE=--) [ 134.382935] pc : __i2c_smbus_xfer+0x1e4/0x214 [ 134.387329] lr : __i2c_smbus_xfer+0x1e4/0x214 [ 134.391717] sp : ffff800083f23860 [ 134.395040] x29: ffff800083f23860 x28: 0000000000000000 x27: ffff800082ed5d60 [ 134.402226] x26: 0000001f4395fd74 x25: 0000000000000007 x24: 0000000000000001 [ 134.409408] x23: 0000000000000000 x22: 000000000000006f x21: ffff800083f23936 [ 134.416589] x20: ffff0000c090e140 x19: ffff0000c090e0d0 x18: 0000000000000006 [ 134.423771] x17: 6f63657320313030 x16: 2e30206465737061 x15: ffff800083f23280 [ 134.430953] x14: 0000000000000000 x13: ffff800082b16ce8 x12: 0000000000000f09 [ 134.438134] x11: 0000000000000503 x10: ffff800082b6ece8 x9 : ffff800082b16ce8 [ 134.445315] x8 : 00000000ffffefff x7 : ffff800082b6ece8 x6 : 80000000fffff000 [ 134.452495] x5 : 0000000000000504 x4 : 0000000000000000 x3 : 0000000000000000 [ 134.459672] x2 : 0000000000000000 x1 : 0000000000000000 x0 : ffff0000c9ee9e80 [ 134.466851] Call trace: [ 134.469311] __i2c_smbus_xfer+0x1e4/0x214 (P) [ 134.473715] i2c_smbus_xfer+0xbc/0x120 [ 134.477507] i2c_smbus_read_byte_data+0x4c/0x84 [ 134.482077] isl1208_i2c_read_time+0x44/0x178 [rtc_isl1208] [ 134.487703] isl1208_rtc_read_time+0x14/0x20 [rtc_isl1208] [ 134.493226] __rtc_read_time+0x44/0x88 [ 134.497012] rtc_read_time+0x3c/0x68 [ 134.500622] rtc_suspend+0x9c/0x170 The warning is triggered because I2C transfers can still be attempted while the controller is already suspended, due to inappropriate ordering of the system sleep callbacks.

Why this CVE matters

Unpatched network-facing software is the leading initial-access vector in public breach reporting. Treat any CVSS-9 class flaw on an internet-reachable system as urgent, regardless of whether public exploit code has been observed yet.

For deployments of Linux that have been exposed to the public internet during the disclosure window, the operating assumption should be that scanning has already happened. Even where exploitation has not been publicly observed, scanning for the vulnerable fingerprint is cheap and routine. Patching closes the door; log review and credential rotation close out the rest of the response.

Am I affected?

You are affected if your installation matches any of these version ranges:

Linux: 53326135d0e041ebe7d08bf22f82529ae69a096e < 469f8fe4c87e43520f279e45b927c35d6fe99194
Linux: 53326135d0e041ebe7d08bf22f82529ae69a096e < 0b4c0fbbe00b7de76bdaea7fa771017d7a979b0d
Linux: 53326135d0e041ebe7d08bf22f82529ae69a096e < e383f0961422f983451ac4dd6aed1a3d3311f2be
Linux: 6.12

Check your installed version against the list above. If you cannot determine the version, treat the system as affected and follow the upgrade path below.

Run uname -r to read the kernel release. Compare against the affected ranges; on distro kernels, also check the package version with dpkg -l linux-image-$(uname -r) or rpm -q kernel.

How to fix CVE-2026-23055

Read the vendor advisory in full: https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/469f8fe4c87e43520f279e45b927c35d6fe99194
Upgrade Linux to 0, 6.12.67, 6.18.7, 6.19 or a later version listed in the vendor advisory.
Back up the configuration (and database, where applicable) before upgrading.
Apply the patch in a maintenance window. For HA pairs, upgrade the standby node first, fail over, then upgrade the former primary.
Restart the affected service so the patched binary loads, then verify the new version (see verification section).

Ubuntu / Debian

_Verify the exact patched build against the vendor advisory: https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/469f8fe4c87e43520f279e45b927c35d6fe99194_


sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install --only-upgrade linux-image-generic
dpkg -s linux-image-generic | grep -i version

RHEL / Rocky / AlmaLinux / Fedora


sudo dnf upgrade --refresh linux-image-generic -y
rpm -q linux-image-generic

openSUSE


sudo zypper refresh
sudo zypper update linux-image-generic
rpm -q linux-image-generic

Bash detect / upgrade / verify runner (Linux)

_Verify the exact patched build against the vendor advisory: https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/469f8fe4c87e43520f279e45b927c35d6fe99194_


#!/usr/bin/env bash
# CVE-2026-23055 remediation runner. Re-runnable; exits non-zero on failure.
set -euo pipefail
log() { printf '%s %s\n' "$(date -Is)" "$*" | tee -a /var/log/cve-2026-23055-fix.log; }

PKG="linux-image-generic"
TARGET_VERSION="6.12.67 or 6.18.7 or 6.19"

log "Detect: reading current $PKG version"
if command -v dpkg >/dev/null 2>&1; then
    current=$(dpkg-query -W -f='${Version}' "$PKG" 2>/dev/null || echo "not-installed")
elif command -v rpm >/dev/null 2>&1; then
    current=$(rpm -q --qf '%{VERSION}-%{RELEASE}' "$PKG" 2>/dev/null || echo "not-installed")
else
    current="unknown"
fi
log "Current: $current (target per advisory: $TARGET_VERSION)"

log "Backup: snapshotting /etc/$PKG if present"
backup="/var/backups/cve-2026-23055-$(date +%Y%m%d-%H%M)"
mkdir -p "$backup"
[ -d "/etc/$PKG" ] && cp -a "/etc/$PKG" "$backup/" || true

log "Upgrade: applying vendor patch"
if command -v apt-get >/dev/null 2>&1; then
    sudo apt-get update -qq
    sudo apt-get install -y --only-upgrade "$PKG"
elif command -v dnf >/dev/null 2>&1; then
    sudo dnf upgrade -y "$PKG"
elif command -v yum >/dev/null 2>&1; then
    sudo yum update -y "$PKG"
fi

log "Verify: re-reading $PKG version"
if command -v dpkg >/dev/null 2>&1; then
    after=$(dpkg-query -W -f='${Version}' "$PKG")
else
    after=$(rpm -q --qf '%{VERSION}-%{RELEASE}' "$PKG")
fi
log "After: $after"

if [ "$after" != "$current" ]; then
    log "SUCCESS: $PKG upgraded"
else
    log "WARN: version unchanged. Confirm the patched build is in your repository."
    exit 1
fi

Verify the fix landed


# 1. Confirm the running version matches the patched build
#    (target per advisory: 6.12.67 or 6.18.7 or 6.19)
#    Use the platform-specific version probe shown above.

# 2. Re-scan the host with your vulnerability scanner (Nessus, Qualys, Tenable,
#    Rapid7, OpenVAS). The scanner should no longer flag CVE-2026-23055.

# 3. Inspect service and kernel logs for crash-loops or rollback events
journalctl --since "10 minutes ago" | grep -iE 'error|fail|panic'
dmesg --since "10 minutes ago" | tail -50

If you cannot patch immediately

No official workaround exists beyond restricting network exposure to the affected component. Apply the vendor patch as the primary remediation.

How to verify the fix worked

After applying the patch, verify the running version in the product's admin UI or via the vendor-documented CLI command.
Confirm the patched build matches the version listed in the vendor advisory.
Run an authenticated vulnerability scan with a current signature set and confirm the scanner no longer flags CVE-2026-23055.
Review logs for the entire pre-patch window for indicators of compromise listed in the vendor or CISA advisory.
Confirm any network-layer mitigations that were applied as a stopgap have been reverted (or left in place intentionally) once the patch is verified.

If your installation was internet-reachable during the disclosure window, treat log review as part of the remediation rather than an optional follow-up. Look for log entries that do not match your normal request patterns, especially repeated requests to the same uncommon endpoint, and any administrative changes you cannot tie back to a known operator.

Frequently asked questions

Is CVE-2026-23055 being exploited in the wild?