Improper resource shutdown or release in Linux kernel - CVE-2026-46046
Published: May 28, 2026
Vulnerability identifier: #VU132437
CSH Severity: Low
CVSS v4.0: CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:L/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:U/U:Clear
CVE-ID: CVE-2026-46046
CWE-ID: CWE-404
Exploitation vector: Local access
Exploit availability:
No public exploit available
Vendor: Linux Foundation
Affected software:
Linux kernel
Linux kernel
Detailed vulnerability description
The vulnerability allows a local user to cause a denial of service.
The vulnerability exists due to improper resource shutdown or release in ext4_xattr_inode_dec_ref_all() when decrementing extended attribute inode references. A local user can trigger the vulnerable code path to cause a denial of service.
The issue occurs because a buffer head obtained through ext4_get_inode_loc() is not released with brelse(), resulting in a refcount leak when block_csum is false.
How to mitigate CVE-2026-46046
Install security update from vendor's repository.
Sources
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/097227f1ffe1a85bc3c359f81c71e3d40e06e920
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/1bc1107a3a403a6d440673ed6666f7b07ef868a8
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/1e6b0a69bf2c9c819255c7566e4355536d81d9cf
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/77d059519382bd66283e6a4e83ee186e87e7708f
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/f072906688933bf47fabbaf63560be03357c8298