Linux KernelOperating system · Linux

CVE-2026-45914

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2026-05-27
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 5.10.252 / 6.1.165 or later.
See remediation →
80/100
Remediation priority · High
Zero-click Patch available

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: Revert "hwmon: (ibmpex) fix use-after-free in high/low store" This reverts commit 6946c726c3f4c36f0f049e6f97e88c510b15f65d. Jean Delvare points out that the patch does not completely fix the reported problem, that it in fact introduces a (new) race condition, and that it may actually not be needed in the first place. Various AI reviews agree. Specific and relevant AI feedback: " This reordering sets the driver data to NULL before removing the sensor attributes in the loop below. ibmpex_show_sensor() retrieves this driver data via dev_get_drvdata() but does not check if it is NULL before dereferencing it to access data->sensors[]. If a userspace process reads a sensor file (like temp1_input) while this delete function is running, could it race with the dev_set_drvdata(..., NULL) call here and crash in ibmpex_show_sensor()? Would it be safer to keep the original order where device_remove_file() is called before clearing the driver data? device_remove_file() should wait for any active sysfs callbacks to complete, which might already prevent the use-after-free this patch intends to fix. " Revert the offending patch. If it can be shown that the originally reported alleged race condition does indeed exist, it can always be re-introduced with a complete fix.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis
How this class of weakness works · CWE-416

Memory is used after it has been freed, so its contents — now potentially attacker-controlled — drive the program's behaviour. With careful heap grooming this becomes code execution. The fix requires disciplined ownership of memory and often a targeted rework of the object lifecycle.

General guidance for the use after free class — the official description and references above are authoritative for this specific CVE. Want a bespoke review and a reviewed fix? Ask our team →

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
Linux KernelOperating system
Affected:>= 5.10.248, < 5.10.252>= 6.1.160, < 6.1.165>= 6.6.120, < 6.6.128>= 6.12.64, < 6.12.75>= 6.18.3, < 6.18.14>= 6.19.1, < 6.19.4= 6.19

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

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

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 5.10.252 / 6.1.165 / 6.6.128 or later
Fixed in 5.10.2526.1.1656.6.128
Vendor patch git.kernel.org →
Recommended fix High confidence

Linux Kernel 5.10.252, 6.1.165, 6.6.128, or 6.12.75 (depending on which branch you are on)

  1. Identify the current running kernel version using 'uname -r'
  2. Determine which affected branch your kernel belongs to (5.10.x, 6.1.x, 6.6.x, or 6.12.x)
  3. Obtain a kernel update from your distribution's package repository that includes the fix commit 05112ba67c824ab416cd54307c0b50aba9f0047a
  4. For 5.10.x: upgrade to kernel version >= 5.10.252
  5. For 6.1.x: upgrade to kernel version >= 6.1.165
  6. For 6.6.x: upgrade to kernel version >= 6.6.128
  7. For 6.12.x: upgrade to kernel version >= 6.12.75
  8. Reboot the system to load the patched kernel
Caveat Standard kernel upgrade risks apply - ensure compatibility with system hardware and critical drivers before production deployment

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

We can perform the upgrade in your staging environment and verify nothing breaks — typical engagement from $3,200. Get the upgrade done

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2026-45914 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2026-45914 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data