CVE-2026-90258
NoneCVSS
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EPSS
0.2%
Published
Sep 17, 2026
CISA due date
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Cloudanix analysis
A missing piece of code in the Linux kernel for certain hardware pin controls could let programs change how interrupt signals are handled, potentially causing devices to behave unexpectedly.
- Exploitation
- Local Privilege
- Attacker needs
- Low Privilege
- Complexity
- Moderate
- Impact
- Privilege Gain
- Component
- OS kernel
- Class
- Misconfiguration
- Remediation
- Upgrade
- Effort
- Medium
- Patch risk
- Low
What it actually does
Missing .irq_request_resources hook in the airoha pinctrl driver prevents gpiolib from setting GPIOD_FLAG_USED_AS_IRQ, disabling pin direction locking and permitting an active IRQ pin to be reconfigured as an output by userspace or another driver.
Why it matters to the business
Embedded Linux devices using airoha pin controllers may experience unexpected hardware behavior or instability when interrupt pins are inadvertently repurposed, increasing operational risk in affected systems.
How an attack unfolds
An attacker with local access invokes GPIO or pinctrl APIs to request an IRQ-associated pin and then reconfigures its direction to output, bypassing the intended locking that the missing helper was meant to enforce.
How to fix it
Apply the upstream kernel patch that adds the .irq_request_resources helper to the airoha pinctrl driver; rebuild and deploy the updated kernel image on affected devices.
How to confirm the fix worked
Inspect the pinctrl-airoha driver source for the presence of the .irq_request_resources implementation and verify that GPIOD_FLAG_USED_AS_IRQ is correctly set during IRQ resource requests.
Typical attack path
- Identify a device exposing airoha pinctrl and GPIO interfaces
- Obtain local execution or driver-level access
- Request an IRQ on a pin without the resource helper present
- Reconfigure the pin direction to output while the IRQ remains active
- Observe or trigger resulting hardware or driver misbehavior
How to detect it
Review kernel logs for unexpected GPIO direction changes on IRQ pins and audit any userspace processes or drivers performing pinctrl or GPIO reconfiguration after IRQ allocation.
What your security team should do
- Prioritize kernel updates on any systems using airoha pinctrl hardware
- Audit device trees and drivers for custom GPIO/IRQ pin usage that could be affected
- Monitor upstream stable kernel releases for the merged fix
The record
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: pinctrl: airoha: add missed IRQ resource helpers Without hooking .irq_request_resources, gpiolib cannot set GPIOD_FLAG_USED_AS_IRQ. This breaks pin direction locking and can allow userspace or another driver to reconfigure an active IRQ pin as an output
Affected packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Introduced | Fixed |
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