Executive brief
A vulnerability in the Linux kernel driver for Uniwill laptops could allow the battery charging limit feature to be enabled on unsupported older hardware. On certain laptop models from around 2020, attempting to use this feature can cause permanent physical damage to the battery. This update prevents the feature from being forced on to protect the physical integrity of the device.
Technical details
A vulnerability was identified in the uniwill-laptop driver within the Linux kernel's x86 platform support. The driver previously allowed users to bypass feature detection using a 'force' module parameter, which could enable the battery charging threshold interface on older Uniwill laptop models (circa 2020) that do not properly implement it. Enabling this feature on incompatible hardware is reported to cause permanent physical damage to the battery. The fix modifies the initialization logic in `drivers/platform/x86/uniwill/uniwill-acpi.c` to explicitly exclude `UNIWILL_FEATURE_BATTERY` from the features enabled when the 'force' parameter is used. Patches have been released for affected stable kernel branches.
Affected products
- Linux Linux Kernel 6.19, 7.0.11
Timeline
- 2026-05-13: patched: Initial fix authored by Armin Wolf
- 2026-07-19: disclosed: CVE published