Vulnerability in Linux

CVE-2026-74463

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: i2c: jz4780: Cache host clock rate at probe to prevent CCF prepare_lock deadlock Fix a severe AB/BA deadlock between the Common Clock Framework (CCF) and the I2C adapter lock, which triggers when an I2C-controlled clock generator client (like the Si5351) is registered or modified under the CCF. During an i2c client clock (generator) frequency change, the CCF acquires its global 'prepare_lock' mutex and the driver calls i2c_transfer() to update the client's chip registers, stalling for the adapter's I2C bus lock. Concurrently, an independent, parallel transfer on the same bus (e.g., a GPIO expander handling LEDs) can hold the I2C adapter lock. Inside this parallel transfer path, jz4780_i2c_set_speed() calls clk_get_rate() on the host controller's input clock to calculate bus timings. This call attempts to acquire the blocked CCF 'prepare_lock', creating a circular dependency that freezes the system. The jz4780 host controller clock itself is static and never changes at runtime. However, calling clk_get_rate() inside the active transfer path introduces an unnecessary dependency on the CCF internal locks. Eliminate this synchronous clk_get_rate() call from the active transfer path by caching the static host peripheral clock rate once - inside the private jz4780_i2c structure during jz4780_i2c_probe(). Update jz4780_i2c_set_speed() to use this cached value, safely decoupling active I2C transactions from the CCF internal locks without any risk of stale timings. Assisted-by web based Google AI (pinpointing the bug and writing the message).

Published · last modified .

EPSS exploit prediction

EPSS: 0.002 (11.2th percentile), scored .

Very low probability of exploitation in the next 30 days; routine patching cadence is appropriate. 11th percentile — 11.2% of CVEs in the catalogue have a lower EPSS than this one. How to read EPSS.

EPSS trend (30 days)EPSS over the last 30 days for CVE-2026-74463: held from 0.002 to 0.002.

EPSS over last 30 days · oldest: 0.002 · newest: 0.002 · change: +0.000

Affected products

  • Linux — versions 7.2-rc6, 7.2, 7.1.8

References