Linux KernelOperating system · Linux

CVE-2026-46141

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2026-05-28
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 6.18.30 / 7.0.7 or later.
See remediation →
57/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
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: powerpc/xive: fix kmemleak caused by incorrect chip_data lookup The kmemleak reports the following memory leak: Unreferenced object 0xc0000002a7fbc640 (size 64): comm "kworker/8:1", pid 540, jiffies 4294937872 hex dump (first 32 bytes): 01 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 09 04 00 04 00 00 ................ 00 00 a7 81 00 00 0a c0 00 00 08 04 00 04 00 00 ................ backtrace (crc 177d48f6): __kmalloc_cache_noprof+0x520/0x730 xive_irq_alloc_data.constprop.0+0x40/0xe0 xive_irq_domain_alloc+0xd0/0x1b0 irq_domain_alloc_irqs_parent+0x44/0x6c pseries_irq_domain_alloc+0x1cc/0x354 irq_domain_alloc_irqs_parent+0x44/0x6c msi_domain_alloc+0xb0/0x220 irq_domain_alloc_irqs_locked+0x138/0x4d0 __irq_domain_alloc_irqs+0x8c/0xfc __msi_domain_alloc_irqs+0x214/0x4d8 msi_domain_alloc_irqs_all_locked+0x70/0xf8 pci_msi_setup_msi_irqs+0x60/0x78 __pci_enable_msix_range+0x54c/0x98c pci_alloc_irq_vectors_affinity+0x16c/0x1d4 nvme_pci_enable+0xac/0x9c0 [nvme] nvme_probe+0x340/0x764 [nvme] This occurs when allocating MSI-X vectors for an NVMe device. During allocation the XIVE code creates a struct xive_irq_data and stores it in irq_data->chip_data. When the MSI-X irqdomain is later freed, xive_irq_free_data() is responsible for retrieving this structure and freeing it. However, after commit cc0cc23babc9 ("powerpc/xive: Untangle xive from child interrupt controller drivers"), xive_irq_free_data() retrieves the chip_data using irq_get_chip_data(), which looks up the data through the child domain. This is incorrect because the XIVE-specific irq data is associated with the XIVE (parent) domain. As a result the lookup fails and the allocated struct xive_irq_data is never freed, leading to the kmemleak report shown above. Fix this by retrieving the irq_data from the correct domain using irq_domain_get_irq_data() and then accessing the chip_data via irq_data_get_irq_chip_data().

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-401

Allocated memory is never released on some path, so a long-running service or a repeatedly triggered request steadily consumes memory until performance degrades or the process crashes. Attackers exploit it by simply driving the leaking path. Remediation is pairing every allocation with a release and using ownership patterns or tooling to catch what leaks.

General guidance for the memory leak 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:>= 6.18, < 6.18.30>= 6.19, < 7.0.7

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
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/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 6.18.30 / 7.0.7 or later
Fixed in 6.18.307.0.7
Vendor patch git.kernel.org →
Recommended fix High confidence

Linux Kernel 6.18.30+ (6.18.x stable) or 7.0.7+ (7.0.x stable)

  1. Identify the currently running kernel version using 'uname -r' or 'cat /proc/version'
  2. If running kernel version >= 6.18 and < 6.18.30, upgrade to kernel version 6.18.30 or later in the 6.18.x stable branch
  3. If running kernel version >= 6.19 and < 7.0.7, upgrade to kernel version 7.0.7 or later in the 7.0.x stable branch
  4. Alternatively, apply the vendor patch commit 2546fb8c9acc8c7512ed4339ce2a982cb7407065 to the kernel source code and rebuild
  5. After upgrade or patch application, verify the fix by checking that kmemleak no longer reports the xive_irq_data memory leak
Caveat Kernel upgrades carry standard risks; ensure compatibility with system hardware and required modules before deploying in production

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 $1,600. Get the upgrade done

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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-2026-46141 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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