CyberSecBulletin
CVE-2026-46075NVD status: Undergoing Analysis

Linux: Use After Free

Published Updated By the CyberSecBulletin desk

CVE-2026-46075 is a high-severity use after free vulnerability in Linux, with a CVSS 3.1 base score of 7.8 out of 10. It can be exploited with local access to the system by an attacker with a low-privileged account, without any action from a user. The record lists versions 6dbeb0f788582e1ab5dfc3f41994eac0ec88c2b5, c5a45d14234bf26e28a89e3a5dcc08336595cf11, 775c00d87c385b758da9504cf053acea00e2ed40 as the first without the flaw, so updating Linux to one of those releases or later removes the exposure. There is no confirmed exploitation so far. EPSS estimates a 0.13% chance of exploitation within 30 days, which is low compared with other CVEs.

Next patch cycle

High severity with no evidence of exploitation so far.

What to do

  1. Update Linux to 6dbeb0f788582e1ab5dfc3f41994eac0ec88c2b5 or c5a45d14234bf26e28a89e3a5dcc08336595cf11 or 775c00d87c385b758da9504cf053acea00e2ed40 or 1193c12126d39bf986a5a9214827b73707b193ab, whichever matches your release line, or a later version.
  2. Update Linux Kernel to 6.1.175 or 6.6.140 or 6.12.86 or 6.18.27, whichever matches your release line, or a later version.

Affected products and versions

VendorProductAffected versionsFixed in
LinuxLinuxda001fb651b00e1deeaf24767dd691ae8152a4f5 up to, but not including, 6dbeb0f788582e1ab5dfc3f41994eac0ec88c2b5; da001fb651b00e1deeaf24767dd691ae8152a4f5 up to, but not including, c5a45d14234bf26e28a89e3a5dcc08336595cf11; da001fb651b00e1deeaf24767dd691ae8152a4f5 up to, but not including, 775c00d87c385b758da9504cf053acea00e2ed40; da001fb651b00e1deeaf24767dd691ae8152a4f5 up to, but not including, 1193c12126d39bf986a5a9214827b73707b193ab; da001fb651b00e1deeaf24767dd691ae8152a4f5 up to, but not including, 31901371ccd16b42d2f167b1018ba9ae8bd5a6c7; da001fb651b00e1deeaf24767dd691ae8152a4f5 up to, but not including, bab1adf3b87e4bfac92c4f5963c63db434d561c1; 5.36dbeb0f788582e1ab5dfc3f41994eac0ec88c2b5, c5a45d14234bf26e28a89e3a5dcc08336595cf11, 775c00d87c385b758da9504cf053acea00e2ed40, 1193c12126d39bf986a5a9214827b73707b193ab, 31901371ccd16b42d2f167b1018ba9ae8bd5a6c7, bab1adf3b87e4bfac92c4f5963c63db434d561c1
LinuxLinux Kernel5.3 up to, but not including, 6.1.175; 6.2 up to, but not including, 6.6.140; 6.7 up to, but not including, 6.12.86; 6.13 up to, but not including, 6.18.27; 6.19 up to, but not including, 7.0.46.1.175, 6.6.140, 6.12.86, 6.18.27, 7.0.4

Version data comes from the organisation that assigned the CVE. Confirm against the vendor advisory before deciding you are unaffected.

How the severity score breaks down

Attack vector
LocalThe attacker needs local access or must trick a user into running something.
Attack complexity
LowNo special conditions are needed; the attack works reliably.
Privileges required
LowA basic user account is enough.
User interaction
NoneNo action by a victim is required.
Scope
UnchangedImpact stays within the vulnerable component.
Confidentiality
HighAll data handled by the component can be read.
Integrity
HighData or code can be modified at will.
Availability
HighThe component can be taken down completely.

Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H. Scored by NVD.

Official description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: crypto: atmel-sha204a - Fix potential UAF and memory leak in remove path Unregister the hwrng to prevent new ->read() calls and flush the Atmel I2C workqueue before teardown to prevent a potential UAF if a queued callback runs while the device is being removed. Drop the early return to ensure sysfs entries are removed and ->hwrng.priv is freed, preventing a memory leak.

Source: the CVE record as published by its numbering authority, via NVD and CVE.org.

The underlying weakness: Use After Free

The product reuses or references memory after it has been freed. At some point afterward, the memory may be allocated again and saved in another pointer, while the original pointer references a location somewhere within the new allocation. Any operations using the original pointer are no longer valid because the memory belongs to the code that operates on the new pointer.

How developers prevent this class of flaw

  • Choose a language that provides automatic memory management.
  • When freeing pointers, be sure to set them to NULL once they are freed. However, the utilization of multiple or complex data structures may lower the usefulness of this strategy.

More Use After Free vulnerabilities (CWE-416)

Timeline

  1. CVE record published.
  2. Record last changed materially (score, affected products, status or references).

References

Recent Use After Free vulnerabilities

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