CVE-2026-53180

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: timers/migration: Fix livelock in tmigr_handle_remote_up() tmigr_handle_remote_cpu() skips timer_expire_remote() when cpu == smp_processor_id(), assuming the local softirq path already handled this CPU's timers. This assumption is wrong because jiffies can advance after the handling of the CPU's global timers in run_timer_base(BASE_GLOBAL) and before tmigr_handle_remote() evaluates the expiry times. As a consequence a timer which expires after the CPU local timer wheel advanced and becomes expired in the remote handling is ignored and the callback is never invoked and removed from the timer wheel. What's worse is that fetch_next_timer_interrupt_remote() keeps reporting it as expired, and the event is re-queued with expires == now on each iteration. The goto-again loop spins indefinitely. Fix this by calling timer_expire_remote() unconditionally. That's minimal overhead for the common case as __run_timer_base() returns immediately if there is nothing to expire in the local wheel. [ tglx: Amend change log and add a comment ]

CVSS v3.1 Score

7.5

HIGH

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

EPSS — Exploit Prediction

0.0047

Probability of exploitation

0.37%

Percentile rank

EPSS estimates the probability that this vulnerability will be exploited in the wild within the next 30 days. A higher score means more likely to be exploited.

References

Other References

https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/07b3b83587fb3012619f4439389b64a955fc7836 https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/1d6c2062b77be09ec15d6bf637b2e2221c4482fc https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/d338e61ea94052a786aac9f58e9f0d8520afa0fd https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/d486b4934a8e504376b85cdb3766f306d57aff5b

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2026-53180? +

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: timers/migration: Fix livelock in tmigr_handle_remote_up() tmigr_handle_remote_cpu() skips timer_expire_remote() when cpu == smp_processor_id(), assuming the local softirq path already handled this CPU's timers. This assumption is wrong because jiffies can advance after the handling of the CPU's global timers in run_timer_base(BASE_GLOBAL) and before tmigr_handle_remote() evaluates the expiry times. As a consequence a timer which expires after the CPU local timer wheel advanced and becomes expired in the remote handling is ignored and the callback is never invoked and removed from the timer wheel. What's worse is that fetch_next_timer_interrupt_remote() keeps reporting it as expired, and the event is re-queued with expires == now on each iteration. The goto-again loop spins indefinitely. Fix this by calling timer_expire_remote() unconditionally. That's minimal overhead for the common case as __run_timer_base() returns immediately if there is nothing to expire in the local wheel. [ tglx: Amend change log and add a comment ] It has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 7.5 (HIGH).

How severe is CVE-2026-53180? +

CVE-2026-53180 has a CVSS v3.1 score of 7.5 out of 10, rated HIGH. This is a high-severity vulnerability that should be prioritized for patching. The EPSS score is 0.0047, placing it in the 0th percentile for exploitation probability.

How do I check if I'm vulnerable to CVE-2026-53180? +

You can use Secably's free Website Scanner to check your website for known vulnerabilities. For infrastructure scanning, use the Port Scanner to identify exposed services that may be affected. Check the vendor advisories linked above for specific patch and version information.