VulnerabilityPublished 27 May 2026Updated 6 Nov 2026

CVE-2026-46021: Linux kernel · thermal: core: Fix thermal zone governor cleanup issues

Affects Linux kernelSource CVE Database V5

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Not known to be exploited · fixed in f412e541d25a3dfaf3d53e012ade6ff03cae8a45 : update Linux kernel when convenient.

Data as of 6 Nov 2026, 16:34 UTC

Severity

Unrated

Rated by Threat Radar · No CVSS score from NVD or the CNA

Thin evidence

One scorer or none

Exploitation: No evidence of active exploitation and no public proof of concept
Automatable: Attackers cannot reliably automate steps 1–4 of the kill chain
Technical impact: Limited control over the software or limited information exposure

CISA SSVC assessment, 2026-11-06.

Patch

Available – fixed in f412e541d25a3dfaf3d53e012ade6ff03cae8a45, d4eb861adde5ce22e459fbd29366f47bb2167977, a172fa18bc370b776ac1510abb0dcb50a7a35fac +5

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 27 May 2026
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponized: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: no evidence on record.
Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by Mirage: no evidence on record.
No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors

A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 6 Nov 2026.

Disclosed: The CVE record is public on cve.org. Its publication is t = 0.
Detectable: A public nuclei template can find exposed instances, for defenders and attackers alike.
Weaponized: A Metasploit exploit module or Exploit-DB entry exists (Metasploit scanner modules do not count), or CISA SSVC or the CVSS exploit maturity reports a public proof of concept.
Exploited in the wild: CISA KEV lists it, CISA SSVC rates exploitation active, or a source reports attacks.
Observed by OffSeq Mirage: OffSeq Mirage honeypot sensors recorded attack traffic for this CVE, or found exposed hosts without attack traffic.

Moments are spaced evenly, not to scale; a dashed line marks a gap of six months or more. Deltas count from t = 0. Sources that give only a date (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, or a time of exactly 00:00Z) read “same day” rather than hours. Metasploit modules carry the flaw’s disclosure date, not their release date, and nuclei templates carry no date, so both appear above but not on the timeline.

What to do

Upgrade to a fixed release listed under Affected software.

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
LinuxLinux	Affected ≥ e33df1d2f3a0141cd79e770f31999ba0dd7ebfa8, < f412e541d25a3dfaf3d53e012ade6ff03cae8a45	Fixed in f412e541d25a3dfaf3d53e012ade6ff03cae8a45
LinuxLinux	Affected ≥ e33df1d2f3a0141cd79e770f31999ba0dd7ebfa8, < d4eb861adde5ce22e459fbd29366f47bb2167977	Fixed in d4eb861adde5ce22e459fbd29366f47bb2167977
LinuxLinux	Affected ≥ e33df1d2f3a0141cd79e770f31999ba0dd7ebfa8, < a172fa18bc370b776ac1510abb0dcb50a7a35fac	Fixed in a172fa18bc370b776ac1510abb0dcb50a7a35fac
LinuxLinux	Affected ≥ e33df1d2f3a0141cd79e770f31999ba0dd7ebfa8, < 75f8f3c3e09122270986de9d7aa347d701676761	Fixed in 75f8f3c3e09122270986de9d7aa347d701676761
LinuxLinux	Affected ≥ e33df1d2f3a0141cd79e770f31999ba0dd7ebfa8, < 64d4ebf91d082034bbc5ae3ba2d7fd800bc02d06	Fixed in 64d4ebf91d082034bbc5ae3ba2d7fd800bc02d06
LinuxLinux	Affected ≥ e33df1d2f3a0141cd79e770f31999ba0dd7ebfa8, < 41ff66baf81c6541f4f985dd7eac4494d03d9440	Fixed in 41ff66baf81c6541f4f985dd7eac4494d03d9440

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.

References

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