CVE-2026-63942 (CVSS 7.8)

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: parport: Fix race between port and client registration The parport subsystem registers port devices before they are fully initialised, resulting in a race condition where client drivers such as lp can attach to ports that are not completely initialised or even being torn down. When the port and client drivers are built as modules and loaded around the same time during boot, this occasionally results in a crash. I was able to make this happen reliably in a VM with a PC-style parallel port by patching parport_pc to fail probing: > --- a/drivers/parport/parport_pc.c > +++ b/drivers/parport/parport_pc.c > @@ -2069,7 +2069,7 @@ static struct parport *__parport_pc_probe_port(unsigned long int base, > if (!p) > goto out3; > > - base_res = request_region(base, 3, p->name); > + base_res = NULL; > if (!base_res) > goto out4; > and then running: while true; do modprobe lp & modprobe parport_pc wait rmmod lp parport_pc done for a few seconds. In the long term I think port registration should be changed to put the call to device_add() inside parport_announce_port(), but since the latter currently cannot fail this will require changing all port drivers. For now, add a flag to indicate whether a port has been "announced" and only try to attach client drivers to ports when the flag is set.

Is your site exposed to CVE-2026-63942?

Run a free security scan — no signup, results in seconds.

CVSS v3.1 Score

7.8

HIGH

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

EPSS — Exploit Prediction

0.0016

Probability of exploitation

0.06%

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/15b1723c1472e802f9f7e69ae4e64f7dbf588848 https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/290f515c5e3b3900bc2fe24f179999fd08d23bfa https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/51026cff1f4f3b762a0b5a07c727bd59cef45320 https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/74d6aae1df45d3414178986be743f946988fddf6 https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/a1e81b58da0179531bedf0b9f2811f5f992d5c4b https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/d16548be2ea5058227d79799e81dab61c9bca8ec https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/ef15ccbb3e8640a723c42ad90eaf81d66ae02017 https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/f3378b0d7bd4605de89b083b2900788157a181cc

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2026-63942? +

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: parport: Fix race between port and client registration The parport subsystem registers port devices before they are fully initialised, resulting in a race condition where client drivers such as lp can attach to ports that are not completely initialised or even being torn down. When the port and client drivers are built as modules and loaded around the same time during boot, this occasionally results in a crash. I was able to make this happen reliably in a VM with a PC-style parallel port by patching parport_pc to fail probing: > --- a/drivers/parport/parport_pc.c > +++ b/drivers/parport/parport_pc.c > @@ -2069,7 +2069,7 @@ static struct parport *__parport_pc_probe_port(unsigned long int base, > if (!p) > goto out3; > > - base_res = request_region(base, 3, p->name); > + base_res = NULL; > if (!base_res) > goto out4; > and then running: while true; do modprobe lp & modprobe parport_pc wait rmmod lp parport_pc done for a few seconds. In the long term I think port registration should be changed to put the call to device_add() inside parport_announce_port(), but since the latter currently cannot fail this will require changing all port drivers. For now, add a flag to indicate whether a port has been "announced" and only try to attach client drivers to ports when the flag is set. It has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 7.8 (HIGH).

How severe is CVE-2026-63942? +

CVE-2026-63942 has a CVSS v3.1 score of 7.8 out of 10, rated HIGH. This is a high-severity vulnerability that should be prioritized for patching. The EPSS score is 0.0016, placing it in the 0th percentile for exploitation probability.

How do I check if I'm vulnerable to CVE-2026-63942? +

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.

CVE-2026-63942