CVE-2026-43319: spi: spidev: fix lock inversion between spi_lock and buf_lock

Severity: medium (CVSS 5.5 v3.1)
Exploited in the wild: not listed in CISA KEV
EPSS: 0.1% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days
Public exploit or detection template: none known
Published: 2026-05-08 · updated 2026-06-17
Weakness: CWE-667

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: spi: spidev: fix lock inversion between spi_lock and buf_lock The spidev driver previously used two mutexes, spi_lock and buf_lock, but acquired them in different orders depending on the code path: write()/read(): buf_lock -> spi_lock ioctl(): spi_lock -> buf_lock This AB-BA locking pattern triggers lockdep warnings and can cause real deadlocks: WARNING: possible circular locking dependency detected spidev_ioctl() -> mutex_lock(&spidev->buf_lock) spidev_sync_write() -> mutex_lock(&spidev->spi_lock) *** DEADLOCK *** The issue is reproducible with a simple userspace program that performs write() and SPI_IOC_WR_MAX_SPEED_HZ ioctl() calls from separate threads on the same spidev file descriptor. Fix this by simplifying the locking model and removing the lock inversion entirely. spidev_sync() no longer performs any locking, and all callers serialize access using spi_lock. buf_lock is removed since its functionality is fully covered by spi_lock, eliminating the possibility of lock ordering issues. This removes the lock inversion and prevents deadlocks without changing userspace ABI or behaviour.

Affected products

Linux kernel: from 6.2 before 6.12.75; from 6.13 before 6.18.16; from 6.19 before 6.19.6; 7.0-rc1, 7.0-rc2, 7.0-rc3, 7.0-rc4, 7.0-rc5, 7.0-rc6 (+1) — fixed in 6.12.75, 6.18.16, 6.19.6

How to fix

Upgrade to a fixed version: Linux kernel 6.12.75, 6.18.16, 6.19.6. Check the vendor advisory for mitigations.

References

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