CVE-2026-99164
Description
A flaw was found in the Linux kernel's Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI) driver for i.MX devices. The driver allocates Direct Memory Access (DMA) bounce buffers that are smaller than the cache line size used during hardware mapping and synchronization. This size discrepancy causes DMA operations to access memory beyond the allocated buffer boundary, corrupting adjacent kernel memory. An attacker capable of triggering SPI transactions can exploit this vulnerability to cause a system crash, resulting in a Denial of Service (DoS).
Statement
This vulnerability is rated Moderate because exploitation requires local access, depends on the presence of specialized NXP i.MX hardware controllers, and leads to kernel memory corruption resulting primarily in a denial of service. Standard enterprise server deployments are unaffected as they do not run on i.MX System-on-Chip platforms or initialize this specific peripheral interface. On affected embedded architectures, triggering the out-of-bounds access demands precise timing and heavy bus traffic, making reliable exploitation difficult.
Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) Score Details
Info alert:Important note
CVSS scores for open source components depend on vendor-specific factors (e.g. version or build chain). Therefore, Red Hat's score and impact rating can be different from NVD and other vendors. Red Hat remains the authoritative CVE Naming Authority (CNA) source for its products and services (see Red Hat classifications).
The following CVSS metrics and score provided are preliminary and subject to review.
CVSS v3 Score Breakdown
| Red Hat | NVD | cve.org | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Base Score | 4.7 | N/A | 7.8 |
| Attack Vector | Local | N/A | Local |
| Attack Complexity | High | N/A | Low |
| Privileges Required | Low | N/A | Low |
| User Interaction | None | N/A | None |
| Scope | Unchanged | N/A | Unchanged |
| Confidentiality | None | N/A | High |
| Integrity Impact | None | N/A | High |
| Availability Impact | High | N/A | High |
Vector
Red Hat: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
cve.org: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Understanding the Weakness (CWE)
Integrity
Technical Impact: Modify Memory; Execute Unauthorized Code or Commands
Write operations could cause memory corruption. In some cases, an adversary can modify control data such as return addresses in order to execute unexpected code.
Availability
Technical Impact: DoS: Crash, Exit, or Restart
Attempting to access out-of-range, invalid, or unauthorized memory could cause the product to crash.
Other
Technical Impact: Unexpected State
Subsequent write operations can produce undefined or unexpected results.
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