hwmon: (coretemp) Fix core_data leak on CPUs without PTS
Key facts
- Attack vector
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- Privileges required
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- User interaction
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- Attack complexity
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- Impact type
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- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
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- Fix status
- Partial Red Hat: 2 without a fix
No CVSS vector from any source. Fix status from CNA and Red Hat.
Summary
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: hwmon: (coretemp) Fix core_data leak on CPUs without PTS pdata->core_data is allocated in init_temp_data() when the first core temp_data of a package is created, but it is only released from destroy_temp_data(), and only in the branch that handles the package temp_data. Package temp_data is created solely when the CPU supports X86_FEATURE_PTS. On a CPU without it, coretemp_cpu_online() never calls coretemp_add_core() with pkg_flag set, so pdata->pkg_data stays NULL. coretemp_cpu_offline() then skips the removal of the package interface, destroy_temp_data() is never called for package data, and the array is still allocated when coretemp_device_remove() frees the platform data that pointed at it. Release the array in coretemp_device_remove(). destroy_temp_data() sets pdata->core_data to NULL when it frees it, so the added kfree() is a no-op on CPUs that do have PTS. Tested on an Intel Core i5-1135G7. The driver was instrumented to log every allocation and release of pdata->core_data, and the PTS check in coretemp_cpu_online() was patched out to emulate a CPU without package thermal support. Without this change the array was allocated and never released, and coretemp_device_remove() still saw a non-NULL pointer. With it the array is released and the pointer accounting balances. On an unmodified build the release still happens via the package temp_data and the added kfree() sees NULL, with no slab warnings over repeated module load and unload cycles.
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
Not available: CISA has not published SSVC decision points for this record.
Affected products
Remediation
- Fix · CNA Linux (Linux) Fixed in 6.12.110, 6.18.52, 7.2.6, 7.3
Vendor assessments
Red Hat
Red Hat rating: Low. Red Hat's page for this CVE →
| Product | Status | Plan or fix |
|---|---|---|
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 | Affected | No fix planned: Out of support scope |
Not affected: 5 products
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9
- Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4
- Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 5
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-90178
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-r39r-j9pr-wc8x
- 2026-10-19 Fix available: Linux/[email protected] · CNA
- 2026-11-07 Affected versions changed · Red Hat
References
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Sources
- CVE-2026-90178 · CVE Program
- CVE-2026-90178 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-r39r-j9pr-wc8x · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2026-90178 · Red Hat security data · CC BY 4.0
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