thermal: core: Fix thermal zone governor cleanup issues
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Local
- Privileges required
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Impact type
- Denial of service
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- None · None · High
- Fix status
- Partial Red Hat: 3 without a fix
Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · NVD. Fix status from CNA and Red Hat. Impact type from CWE-401.
Summary
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: thermal: core: Fix thermal zone governor cleanup issues If thermal_zone_device_register_with_trips() fails after adding a thermal governor to the thermal zone being registered, the governor is not removed from it as appropriate which may lead to a memory leak. In turn, thermal_zone_device_unregister() calls thermal_set_governor() without acquiring the thermal zone lock beforehand which may race with a governor update via sysfs and may lead to a use-after-free in that case. Address these issues by adding two thermal_set_governor() calls, one to thermal_release() to remove the governor from the given thermal zone, and one to the thermal zone registration error path to cover failures preceding the thermal zone device registration.
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
CISA ADP · SSVC 2.0.3
- Exploitation
- None
- Automatable
- No
- Technical impact
- Partial
The decision (Track, Attend, Act) also depends on your mission and well-being impact; see CISA's SSVC guide.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Linux | Linux | 4.2 and later | 5.10.259, 5.15.210, 6.1.176, 6.6.140, 6.12.86, 6.18.27, 7.0.4, 7.1 | Patch available | CNA |
- Linux VendorLinux Affected 4.2 and later Fixed in 5.10.259, 5.15.210, 6.1.176, 6.6.140, 6.12.86, 6.18.27, 7.0.4, 7.1 Patch available CNA
CPE configurations NVD · 1
| CPE | Versions | Role | Vendor |
|---|---|---|---|
| cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | 4.2 to before 6.6.140; 6.7 to before 6.12.86; 6.13 to before 6.18.27; 6.19 to before 7.0.4 | Vulnerable | Linux |
- cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 4.2 to before 6.6.140; 6.7 to before 6.12.86; 6.13 to before 6.18.27; 6.19 to before 7.0.4 Vulnerable ·Linux
Remediation
- Fix · CNA Linux (Linux) Fixed in 5.10.259, 5.15.210, 6.1.176, 6.6.140, 6.12.86, 6.18.27, 7.0.4, 7.1
Vendor assessments
Red Hat
Red Hat rating: Moderate. Red Hat's page for this CVE →
| Product | Status | Plan or fix |
|---|---|---|
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 | Affected | No fix yet |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 | Affected | No fix yet |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 | Affected | No fix yet |
Not affected: 2 products
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-46021
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-7x76-cw6q-rm95
- 2026-11-06 CISA SSVC decision points changed
References
Patch 5
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/37a430a2d4e66ec8238da6c7f7e48809bf265e13
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/f412e541d25a3dfaf3d53e012ade6ff03cae8a45
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/75f8f3c3e09122270986de9d7aa347d701676761
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/64d4ebf91d082034bbc5ae3ba2d7fd800bc02d06
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/41ff66baf81c6541f4f985dd7eac4494d03d9440
More Linux Kernel vulnerabilities
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- TI-2026-38352 netfilter: bridge: make ebt_snat ARP rewrite writable KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.8
- TI-2013-05264 The (1) get_user and (2) put_user API functions in the Linux kernel before 3.5.5 on the… KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.8
- TI-2022-00125 Integer overflow in kernel KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.4
- TI-2013-01864 The perf_swevent_init function in kernel/events/core.c in the Linux kernel before 3.8.9… KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.4
- TI-2021-05514 Heap Out-Of-Bounds Write in Netfilter IP6T_SO_SET_REPLACE KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.3
Sources
- CVE-2026-46021 · CVE Program
- CVE-2026-46021 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-7x76-cw6q-rm95 · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2026-46021 · Red Hat security data · CC BY 4.0
This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. Sources and licences