VulnerabilityPublished 22 Aug 2026Updated 21 Oct 2026

CVE-2026-74653: Linux kernel · serial: 8250_of: clear stuck empty-FIFO RX-timeout on LPC32xx

Affects Linux kernelSource GCVE Database

Authoritative record:CVE-2026-74653

Not known to be exploited.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 17:16 UTC

Severity

Medium

Rated by Threat Radar · CVSS not yet scored by NVD

EPSS: 0.1% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 6% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 22 Aug 2026
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponised: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: no evidence on record.
Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by Mirage: no evidence on record.
No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors

A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 26 Oct 2026.

Disclosed: The CVE record is public on cve.org. Its publication is t = 0.
Detectable: A public nuclei template can find exposed instances, for defenders and attackers alike.
Weaponised: Public exploit code exists in Metasploit or Exploit-DB, or CISA SSVC or the CVSS exploit maturity reports a public proof of concept.
Exploited in the wild: CISA KEV lists it, CISA SSVC rates exploitation active, or a source reports attacks.
Observed by OffSeq Mirage: OffSeq Mirage honeypot sensors recorded attack traffic for this CVE, or found exposed hosts without attack traffic.

Moments are spaced evenly, not to scale; a dashed line marks a gap of six months or more. Deltas count from t = 0. Sources that give only a date (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, or a time of exactly 00:00Z) read “same day” rather than hours. Metasploit modules carry the flaw’s disclosure date, not their release date, and nuclei templates carry no date, so both appear above but not on the timeline.

ghsa-hpjx-f9r3-xj76

What to do

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
Ubuntu 26.04 LTSlinux`pkg:deb/ubuntu/linux?arch=source&distro=resolute`Other threats	Affected 6.17.0-5.5 – 7.0.0-34.34 22 affected builds	Fixed in–
Ubuntu 26.04 LTSlinux-aws`pkg:deb/ubuntu/linux-aws?arch=source&distro=resolute`Other threats	Affected 6.17.0-1002.2 – 7.0.0-1013.13 14 affected builds	Fixed in–
Ubuntu 26.04 LTSlinux-azure`pkg:deb/ubuntu/linux-azure?arch=source&distro=resolute`Other threats	Affected 6.17.0-1003.3 – 7.0.0-1014.14 14 affected builds	Fixed in–
Ubuntu 26.04 LTSlinux-azure-fde`pkg:deb/ubuntu/linux-azure-fde?arch=source&distro=resolute`Other threats	Affected 7.0.0-1003.3 – 7.0.0-1013.13 8 affected builds	Fixed in–
Ubuntu 26.04 LTSlinux-gcp`pkg:deb/ubuntu/linux-gcp?arch=source&distro=resolute`Other threats	Affected 6.17.0-1002.2 – 7.0.0-1013.13 12 affected builds	Fixed in–
Ubuntu 26.04 LTSlinux-gke`pkg:deb/ubuntu/linux-gke?arch=source&distro=resolute`Other threats	Affected 7.0.0-1002.3 – 7.0.0-1007.8 5 affected builds	Fixed in–

Check your own hosts for these packages with threat-finder (opens in a new tab), our free open-source scanner.

AI-suggested

A fix has been implemented in the Linux kernel by adding a hardware-specific interrupt handler for the LPC32xx UART that clears the stuck RX timeout condition. Users should update to a Linux kernel version that includes this fix. Since this is a kernel-level driver fix, applying the official kernel update is the recommended remediation. No additional mitigation steps are indicated.

Description

In 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.

Impact

The vulnerability causes an interrupt storm that livelocks the CPU on affected hardware, specifically single-core ARM926 systems using the LPC32xx UART. This can lead to system unresponsiveness due to the CPU being stuck handling repeated interrupts. No data loss occurs as the fix ensures no real received data is discarded. There is no indication of remote code execution or privilege escalation from this issue.

Summary

The Linux kernel's 8250_of serial driver for the NXP LPC32xx UART (PORT_LPC3220) had a flaw where an RX character-timeout interrupt could be latched even when the RX FIFO was empty, causing the interrupt to re-fire immediately and create an interrupt storm. This happens because the interrupt is level-triggered and the driver only reads the receive holding register (RHR) when data is present, so the timeout condition is never cleared. On single-core ARM926 CPUs, this results in a livelock detected by the soft-lockup detector. The fix involved adding a hardware-specific interrupt handler that performs a throwaway read of the RHR to clear the condition before continuing normal interrupt processing. This approach does not discard any real received data and is a no-op on healthy UARTs. The fix aligns with similar workarounds applied in other 8250 drivers.

References

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