CVE-2026-97481
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: serial: 8250: fix possible ISR soft lockup There are rare cases in which the host gets stuck in the ISR because it is flooded with messages during the startup phase. The reason for the soft lockup in the ISR is the missing FIFO error IRQ (FIFOE) handling. Not handling it and reporting IRQ_HANDLED triggers the IRQ immediately again. Fix this by adding a check for the FIFOE status and clearing the FIFO if no data is ready (DR). This behavior was observed on an AM62L device which uses the OMAP 8250 driver. Fix it for all 8250 drivers, since the OMAP driver's special IRQ setup handling may trigger this behavior more frequently, but it is not ensured that other 8250 drivers aren't affected.
Affected versions
Linux kernel versions
2.6.12
and later are affected. Fixed in
5.10.271,
5.15.222,
6.1.189,
6.6.158,
6.12.111,
6.18.53,
7.2
and their respective stable series.
References
7 totalFrequently asked questions
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What is CVE-2026-97481?
CVE-2026-97481 is a unscored severity Linux kernel vulnerability . It affects Linux kernel versions from 2.6.12 onward and has been patched in 5.10.271, 5.15.222, 6.1.189 and others. CVE-2026-97481 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
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Is there a patch available for CVE-2026-97481?
Yes. CVE-2026-97481 has been patched. Fixed versions include 5.10.271, 5.15.222, 6.1.189 and others. If you are running Linux kernel 2.6.12 or later up to the fix versions, apply the relevant patch for your kernel branch.
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Is CVE-2026-97481 actively exploited?
No. CVE-2026-97481 has not been confirmed as actively exploited. It is not listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog.