CVE-2026-46042

mm/mempolicy: fix memory leaks in weighted_interleave_auto_store()

MEDIUM
5.5
CVSS Score
Published: May 27, 2026 at 12:56 PM UTC
Updated: June 17, 2026 at 10:52 AM UTC
1 product affected across 1 vendorLinux Kernel

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Severity
MEDIUM5.5
Exploit prediction
EPSS 0.1%

Description

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]>

Affected

Our own answer: ranges merged, affected separated from platform-only, with confidence and review flags.

6.16 ≤ v < 6.18.276.16 ≤ v < 7.0.46.16 ≤ v < 7.16.19 ≤ v < 7.0.46.16e341f9c3c8412e57fe0042a33a2640245ecdf619
Vendor states this is fixed in 39caa9ca863f96b3d00447c5aa200cabda489856 (fixed)
Vendor states this is fixed in 6fae274ce0e3109cbbc4c18b354eaace1f0af7d7 (fixed)
Vendor states this is fixed in c42a7efb9060d89b72708ffaf255d0002c2164a7 (fixed)
Vendor states this is fixed in 6.16 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 6.18.27 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 7.0.4 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 7.1 (unaffected)

CVSS

Attack Vector
LOCAL
Complexity
LOW
Privileges
LOW
User Interaction
NONE
Scope
UNCHANGED
Confidentiality
NONE
Integrity
NONE
Availability
HIGH
Vector?

Quick Info

StatusANALYZED
CWE
CWE-401

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