CVE-2026-46021

thermal: core: Fix thermal zone governor cleanup issues

Published May 27, 2026 CVSS 3.1 · 5.5 Medium EPSS < 1% KEV · Not listed
Description
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.

Remediation

No solution or workaround provided in the CVE record

Tracking

Sign in to view the affected projects.

Advisories

Source ID Title
Debian DLA Debian DLA DLA-4664-1 linux security update
Debian DLA Debian DLA DLA-4665-1 linux security update
Debian DLA Debian DLA DLA-4671-1 linux-6.1 security update
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-8488-1 Linux kernel vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-8489-1 Linux kernel (OEM) vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-8488-2 Linux kernel (Raspberry Pi) vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-8507-1 Linux kernel (NVIDIA) vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-8567-1 Linux kernel vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-8569-1 Linux kernel (HWE) vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-8574-1 Linux kernel (GCP FIPS) vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-8574-2 Linux kernel vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-8595-1 Linux kernel (Oracle) vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-8596-1 Linux kernel (NVIDIA) vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-8595-2 Linux kernel (AWS) vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-8603-1 Linux kernel (Azure) vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-8606-1 Linux kernel (Azure) vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-8607-1 Linux kernel (Azure CVM) vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-8608-1 Linux kernel (Azure FIPS) vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-8609-1 Linux kernel (Azure CVM) vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-8574-3 Linux kernel vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-8595-3 Linux kernel (AWS) vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-8619-1 Linux kernel (HWE) vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-8665-1 Linux kernel (Raspberry Pi) vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-8876-1 Linux kernel (Azure CVM) vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-8875-1 Linux kernel vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-8877-1 Linux kernel (GCP) vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-8878-1 Linux kernel (GCP) vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-8879-1 Linux kernel (Oracle) vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-8875-2 Linux kernel (NVIDIA) vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-9029-1 Linux kernel (Raspberry Pi) vulnerabilities
History
Type Values Removed Values Added
Metrics ssvc

{'options': {'Automatable': 'no', 'Exploitation': 'none', 'Technical Impact': 'partial'}, 'version': '2.0.3'}

Type Values Removed Values Added
Weaknesses CWE-401
Metrics cvssV3_1

{'score': 7.0, 'vector': 'CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H'}

cvssV3_1

{'score': 5.5, 'vector': 'CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H'}

Type Values Removed Values Added
Weaknesses CWE-401
CWE-416
Type Values Removed Values Added
Weaknesses CWE-825
References
Metrics threat_severity

None

cvssV3_1

{'score': 7.0, 'vector': 'CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H'}

threat_severity

Moderate

Type Values Removed Values Added
Weaknesses CWE-401
CWE-416
Type Values Removed Values Added
Description 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.
Title thermal: core: Fix thermal zone governor cleanup issues
First Time appeared Linux
Linux linux Kernel
CPEs cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
Vendors & Products Linux
Linux linux Kernel
References
Weaknesses

Sources

Status
PUBLISHED
Assigner
Linux
Published
Updated
Nov 10, 2026, 12:46 PM
Reserved
May 13, 2026, 3:03 PM
Status
Modified
Published
May 27, 2026, 2:17 PM
Modified
Nov 10, 2026, 1:19 PM
Severity
Moderate
Public date
May 27, 2026, 12:00 AM