---
id: CVE-2026-46021
title: |-
  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 re…
summary: |-
  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 re…
severity: medium
cvss: 5.5
cvssVector: 'CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H'
cwe:
  - CWE-401
vendor: linux
product: linux_kernel
affected:
  - 'linux_kernel >= 4.2, < 6.6.140'
  - 'linux_kernel >= 6.7, < 6.12.86'
  - 'linux_kernel >= 6.13, < 6.18.27'
  - 'linux_kernel >= 6.19, < 7.0.4'
patched:
  - linux_kernel 7.0.4
published: '2026-05-27'
updated: '2026-09-08'
sourceUpdated: '2026-09-08T09:18:06.463'
source: NVD
sourceUrl: 'https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-46021'
references:
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/37a430a2d4e66ec8238da6c7f7e48809bf265e13'
    label: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/41ff66baf81c6541f4f985dd7eac4494d03d9440'
    label: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/64d4ebf91d082034bbc5ae3ba2d7fd800bc02d06'
    label: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/75f8f3c3e09122270986de9d7aa347d701676761'
    label: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/8e563d8db50f303171aceb79eec0807e7ba06951'
    label: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/a172fa18bc370b776ac1510abb0dcb50a7a35fac'
    label: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/d4eb861adde5ce22e459fbd29366f47bb2167977'
    label: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/f412e541d25a3dfaf3d53e012ade6ff03cae8a45'
    label: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
  - url: 'https://cert-portal.siemens.com/productcert/html/ssa-019113.html'
    label: 0b142b55-0307-4c5a-b3c9-f314f3fb7c5e
tags:
  - nvd
  - cve.org
epss: 0.00166
epssPercentile: 0.05175
ingestedAt: '2026-09-08T13:33:24.237Z'
---

## Overview

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.

## Affected

- `linux_kernel >= 4.2, < 6.6.140`
- `linux_kernel >= 6.7, < 6.12.86`
- `linux_kernel >= 6.13, < 6.18.27`
- `linux_kernel >= 6.19, < 7.0.4`

## Remediation

Upgrade past the affected range:

- `linux_kernel 7.0.4`