---
id: CVE-2026-90178
title: |-
  In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

  hwmon: (coretemp) Fix core_data leak on CPUs without PTS

  pdata->core_data is allocated in init_temp_data() when the first core
  temp_data of a package is created, but i…
summary: |-
  In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

  hwmon: (coretemp) Fix core_data leak on CPUs without PTS

  pdata->core_data is allocated in init_temp_data() when the first core
  temp_data of a package is created, but i…
severity: none
vendor: Linux
product: Linux
affected:
  - >-
    Linux >= 1a793caf6f6991716cb07583ed7c27de84ef0cba <
    dc0d79b1be384e7f6a2308356afd10dcf3bf940f
  - >-
    Linux >= 1a793caf6f6991716cb07583ed7c27de84ef0cba <
    86c1617b7d4b001b20a71deda3c791538a4fa6aa
  - >-
    Linux >= 1a793caf6f6991716cb07583ed7c27de84ef0cba <
    9b23a010a1e8232974617c412cb9f578f3378b70
  - >-
    Linux >= 1a793caf6f6991716cb07583ed7c27de84ef0cba <
    0cd8450c257faa0cece0e0c43d3b55d1a389acc7
  - Linux 6.9
published: '2026-09-17'
updated: '2026-09-17'
sourceUpdated: '2026-09-17T17:17:11.807'
source: NVD
sourceUrl: 'https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-90178'
references:
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/0cd8450c257faa0cece0e0c43d3b55d1a389acc7'
    label: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/86c1617b7d4b001b20a71deda3c791538a4fa6aa'
    label: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/9b23a010a1e8232974617c412cb9f578f3378b70'
    label: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/dc0d79b1be384e7f6a2308356afd10dcf3bf940f'
    label: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
tags:
  - nvd
  - cve.org
ingestedAt: '2026-09-17T16:21:47.867Z'
epss: 0.00209
epssPercentile: 0.09744
---

## Overview

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

hwmon: (coretemp) Fix core_data leak on CPUs without PTS

pdata->core_data is allocated in init_temp_data() when the first core
temp_data of a package is created, but it is only released from
destroy_temp_data(), and only in the branch that handles the package
temp_data.

Package temp_data is created solely when the CPU supports
X86_FEATURE_PTS. On a CPU without it, coretemp_cpu_online() never calls
coretemp_add_core() with pkg_flag set, so pdata->pkg_data stays NULL.
coretemp_cpu_offline() then skips the removal of the package interface,
destroy_temp_data() is never called for package data, and the array is
still allocated when coretemp_device_remove() frees the platform data
that pointed at it.

Release the array in coretemp_device_remove(). destroy_temp_data() sets
pdata->core_data to NULL when it frees it, so the added kfree() is a
no-op on CPUs that do have PTS.

Tested on an Intel Core i5-1135G7. The driver was instrumented to log
every allocation and release of pdata->core_data, and the PTS check in
coretemp_cpu_online() was patched out to emulate a CPU without package
thermal support. Without this change the array was allocated and never
released, and coretemp_device_remove() still saw a non-NULL pointer.
With it the array is released and the pointer accounting balances. On an
unmodified build the release still happens via the package temp_data and
the added kfree() sees NULL, with no slab warnings over repeated module
load and unload cycles.

## Remediation

Refer to the linked advisories for vendor-supplied fixes and affected version ranges.