Use-after-free in Linux kernel - CVE-2026-46021
Published: May 28, 2026
Vulnerability identifier: #VU132471
CSH Severity: Low
CVSS v4.0: CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:U/U:Clear
CVE-ID: CVE-2026-46021
CWE-ID: CWE-416
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 a use-after-free in thermal_set_governor() and thermal_zone_device_unregister() when handling concurrent governor updates via sysfs during thermal zone unregistration. A local user can trigger a governor update race to cause a denial of service.
The issue can occur if thermal_zone_device_register_with_trips() fails after adding a thermal governor to the thermal zone being registered.
How to mitigate CVE-2026-46021
Install security update from vendor's repository.
Sources
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/37a430a2d4e66ec8238da6c7f7e48809bf265e13
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/41ff66baf81c6541f4f985dd7eac4494d03d9440
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/64d4ebf91d082034bbc5ae3ba2d7fd800bc02d06
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/75f8f3c3e09122270986de9d7aa347d701676761
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/f412e541d25a3dfaf3d53e012ade6ff03cae8a45