What is CVE-2026-46042?

CVE-2026-46042 is a Medium severity Linux kernel vulnerability with a CVSS score of 5.5 out of 10, classified as a Memory Leak flaw (CWE-401), affecting Linux kernel versions from 6.16 onward and patched in 6.18.27, 7.0.4 and 7.1. CVE-2026-46042 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

What is the CVSS score for CVE-2026-46042?

CVE-2026-46042 has a CVSS score of 5.5 out of 10, rated Medium severity. The vector string is CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H.

Is there a patch available for CVE-2026-46042?

Yes, CVE-2026-46042 has been patched. Fixed versions include 6.18.27, 7.0.4 and 7.1. If you are running Linux kernel 6.16 or later up to the fix versions, apply the relevant patch for your kernel branch.

Is CVE-2026-46042 actively exploited?

CVE-2026-46042 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

What is Memory Leak (CWE-401)?

The product does not release memory after use, causing gradual resource exhaustion. See MITRE CWE for full details: https://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/401.html

CVE-2026-46042

Medium

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: mm/mempolicy: fix memory leaks in weighted_interleave_auto_store() weighted_interleave_auto_store() fetches old_wi_state inside the if (!input) block only. This causes two memory leaks: 1. When a user writes "false" and the current mode is already manual, the function returns early without freeing the freshly allocated new_wi_state. 2. When a user writes "true", old_wi_state stays NULL because the fetch is skipped entirely. The old state is then overwritten by rcu_assign_pointer() but never freed, since the cleanup path is gated on old_wi_state being non-NULL. A user can trigger this repeatedly by writing "1" in a loop. Fix both leaks by moving the old_wi_state fetch before the input check, making it unconditional. This also allows a unified early return for both "true" and "false" when the requested mode matches the current mode. Reviewed by: Donet Tom <[email protected]>

Package Linux Kernel

Published 2026-05-27

Last modified 2026-06-16

CVSS version 3.1

Patch available

Yes

CVSS 3.1 score

5.5

out of 10

Medium

Attack Vector

Local

Attack Complexity

Low

Privileges Required

Low

User Interaction

None

Scope

Unchanged

Confidentiality

Low

Integrity

None

Availability

High

Vector string

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

Weakness type

CWE-401

CVE-2026-46042 is a Memory Leak vulnerability

What is Memory Leak?

The product does not release memory after use, causing gradual resource exhaustion. Learn more on MITRE CWE

Affected versions

Linux kernel versions 6.16 and later are affected. Fixed in 6.18.27, 7.0.4, 7.1 and their respective stable series.

Affected from

≥ 6.16

Fixed in

✓ 6.18.27 6.18.x ✓ 7.0.4 7.0.x ✓ 7.1

References

3 total

Kernel Git
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/39caa9ca863f96b3d00447c5aa200cabda489856

Patch
Kernel Git
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/6fae274ce0e3109cbbc4c18b354eaace1f0af7d7

Patch
Kernel Git
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/c42a7efb9060d89b72708ffaf255d0002c2164a7

Patch

Details

CVE ID CVE-2026-46042

Severity Medium

CVSS score 5.5 / 10

CVSS version 3.1

Published 2026-05-27

Modified 2026-06-16

KEV No

Patch

Yes

Package linux

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2026-46042?

CVE-2026-46042 is a Medium severity Linux kernel vulnerability with a CVSS score of 5.5 out of 10 , classified as a Memory Leak flaw (CWE-401) . It affects Linux kernel versions from 6.16 onward and has been patched in 6.18.27, 7.0.4 and 7.1. CVE-2026-46042 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
What is the CVSS score for CVE-2026-46042?

CVE-2026-46042 has a CVSS score of 5.5 out of 10, rated Medium severity (CVSS 3.1). The vector string is CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H.
Is there a patch available for CVE-2026-46042?

Yes. CVE-2026-46042 has been patched. Fixed versions include 6.18.27, 7.0.4 and 7.1. If you are running Linux kernel 6.16 or later up to the fix versions, apply the relevant patch for your kernel branch.
Is CVE-2026-46042 actively exploited?

No. CVE-2026-46042 has not been confirmed as actively exploited. It is not listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog.