# CVE-2026-46042: mm/mempolicy: fix memory leaks in weighted_interleave_auto_store()

> A local attacker can trigger memory leaks in the Linux kernel's mempolicy subsystem, leading to resource exhaustion and potential denial of service.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.5 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 27 May 2026
- **Updated:** 14 Jun 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2026-46042, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-46042, GHSA-pmw2-6gh9-j59g, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-46042

## What is CVE-2026-46042?

CVE-2026-46042 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 27 May 2026. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official 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 <donettom@linux.ibm.com>

Weakness: CWE-401 (Missing Release of Memory after Effective Lifetime)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-46042?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2026-46042?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-46042 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-46042 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Linux kernel

- [CVE-2026-53266](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-53266/): Linux Kernel Out-of-Bounds Write (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2013-6282](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-6282/): Linux Kernel Improper Input Validation (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2022-0185](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-0185/): Linux Kernel Heap-Based Buffer Overflow (high 8.4, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2013-2094](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-2094/): Linux Kernel Privilege Escalation (high 8.4, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2026-53362](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-53362/): Linux Kernel Unspecified (high 7.8, exploited in the wild)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-46042 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-46042 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 27 May 2026. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-46042 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Linux kernel. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-46042/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-46042/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-46042
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-46042
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-46042

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-46042/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.