---
id: CVE-2026-97481
title: |-
  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.

  …
summary: |-
  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.

  …
severity: medium
cvss: 5.5
cvssVector: 'CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H'
cwe:
  - CWE-835
vendor: Linux
product: Linux
affected:
  - >-
    Linux >= 1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <
    4bce4a6f6318035d77d6b6199527b1950bb015f4
  - >-
    Linux >= 1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <
    8b67af8cd90542b2607623e3282811849e191b79
  - >-
    Linux >= 1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <
    95d0b40c0623fd2b58c753f8dd6adda7263e3cd1
  - >-
    Linux >= 1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <
    03ed804a0ddc3d069faf94c47f9e702afe5ca084
  - >-
    Linux >= 1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <
    2881b2e6da02daea1eb8254247ba8fd20c9d3348
  - >-
    Linux >= 1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <
    4295c58990b7a84e8349a2226db692e252825b60
  - >-
    Linux >= 1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <
    0c6bf45e5a345cc3b9ffbeaf9083ecac3c2293eb
  - Linux 2.6.12
published: '2026-09-24'
updated: '2026-10-03'
sourceUpdated: '2026-10-03T11:17:57.987'
source: NVD
sourceUrl: 'https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-97481'
references:
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/03ed804a0ddc3d069faf94c47f9e702afe5ca084'
    label: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/0c6bf45e5a345cc3b9ffbeaf9083ecac3c2293eb'
    label: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/2881b2e6da02daea1eb8254247ba8fd20c9d3348'
    label: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/4295c58990b7a84e8349a2226db692e252825b60'
    label: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/4bce4a6f6318035d77d6b6199527b1950bb015f4'
    label: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/8b67af8cd90542b2607623e3282811849e191b79'
    label: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/95d0b40c0623fd2b58c753f8dd6adda7263e3cd1'
    label: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
  - url: >-
      https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/2026/cve-2026-97481.json
  - url: 'https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-97481'
  - url: 'https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2540379'
  - url: 'https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-97481'
  - url: 'https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-97481'
  - url: >-
      https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/security/vulns.git/plain/cve/published/2026/CVE-2026-97481.mbox
tags:
  - nvd
  - cve.org
  - csaf
  - vex
  - red-hat
epss: 0.00173
epssPercentile: 0.06628
cvssSource: vendor
ingestedAt: '2026-09-24T16:47:15.870Z'
---

## Overview

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.

## Remediation

Refer to the linked advisories for vendor-supplied fixes and affected version ranges.

## Vendor advisories

- **Red Hat VEX** · Low · affected: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9, Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4 · no fix planned: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9, Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4 · updated 2026-10-17 · [vex](https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/2026/cve-2026-97481.json)