CyberSecBulletin
CVE-2026-46178NVD status: Modified

Linux: Missing Release of Memory after Effective Lifetime

Published Updated By the CyberSecBulletin desk

CVE-2026-46178 is a high-severity missing release of memory after effective lifetime 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 53fd4c03558672ccb167754fbacbf045c7ab335c, 0be6ae614ca7fa53e7389e3c7462ed20abbd4192, 5b3b220d54e6a3d77380cb7caa1ef79cb8f4fc94 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 53fd4c03558672ccb167754fbacbf045c7ab335c or 0be6ae614ca7fa53e7389e3c7462ed20abbd4192 or 5b3b220d54e6a3d77380cb7caa1ef79cb8f4fc94 or c5dc30da990045105c9762248d23076223e7878a, whichever matches your release line, or a later version.
  2. Update Linux Kernel to 5.10.258 or 5.15.209 or 6.1.175 or 6.6.140, whichever matches your release line, or a later version.

Affected products and versions

VendorProductAffected versionsFixed in
LinuxLinux225c7b1feef1b41170f7037a5b10a65cd8a42c54 up to, but not including, 53fd4c03558672ccb167754fbacbf045c7ab335c; 225c7b1feef1b41170f7037a5b10a65cd8a42c54 up to, but not including, 0be6ae614ca7fa53e7389e3c7462ed20abbd4192; 225c7b1feef1b41170f7037a5b10a65cd8a42c54 up to, but not including, 5b3b220d54e6a3d77380cb7caa1ef79cb8f4fc94; 225c7b1feef1b41170f7037a5b10a65cd8a42c54 up to, but not including, c5dc30da990045105c9762248d23076223e7878a; 225c7b1feef1b41170f7037a5b10a65cd8a42c54 up to, but not including, 0dbd619716fb07b7de1acd64fec673ee6e1adde7; 225c7b1feef1b41170f7037a5b10a65cd8a42c54 up to, but not including, e01b8c9286c470b71a38acd320106f2c4f2826a1; 225c7b1feef1b41170f7037a5b10a65cd8a42c54 up to, but not including, 388617f44d81604a760742a0b5de292d411e63e3; 225c7b1feef1b41170f7037a5b10a65cd8a42c54 up to, but not including, c54c7e4cb679c0aaa1cb489b9c3f2cd98e63a44c; and 1 more ranges53fd4c03558672ccb167754fbacbf045c7ab335c, 0be6ae614ca7fa53e7389e3c7462ed20abbd4192, 5b3b220d54e6a3d77380cb7caa1ef79cb8f4fc94, c5dc30da990045105c9762248d23076223e7878a, 0dbd619716fb07b7de1acd64fec673ee6e1adde7, e01b8c9286c470b71a38acd320106f2c4f2826a1
LinuxLinux Kernel2.6.22 up to, but not including, 5.10.258; 5.11 up to, but not including, 5.15.209; 5.16 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, 6.12.88; 6.13 up to, but not including, 6.18.30; 6.19 up to, but not including, 7.0.7; 7.15.10.258, 5.15.209, 6.1.175, 6.6.140, 6.12.88, 6.18.30

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 CNA.

Official description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: RDMA/mlx4: Fix resource leak on error in mlx4_ib_create_srq() Sashiko points out that mlx4_srq_alloc() was not undone during error unwind, add the missing call to mlx4_srq_free().

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

The underlying weakness: Missing Release of Memory after Effective Lifetime

The product does not sufficiently track and release allocated memory after it has been used, making the memory unavailable for reallocation and reuse.

How developers prevent this class of flaw

  • Choose a language or tool that provides automatic memory management, or makes manual memory management less error-prone. For example, glibc in Linux provides protection against free of invalid pointers. When using Xcode to target OS X or iOS, enable automatic reference counting (ARC). To help correctly and consistently manage memory when programming in C++, consider using a smart pointer class such as std
  • Use an abstraction library to abstract away risky APIs. Not a complete solution.
  • Consider using the Boehm-Demers-Weiser garbage collector (bdwgc), which can help avoid leaks.

More Missing Release of Memory after Effective Lifetime vulnerabilities (CWE-401)

Timeline

  1. CVE record published.
  2. CISA published its SSVC assessment (exploitation: none, automatable: no, technical impact: total).
  3. Record last changed materially (score, affected products, status or references).

References

Recent Missing Release of Memory after Effective Lifetime vulnerabilities

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