Linux Kernel up to 6.12.85/6.18.26/7.0.3 tpm kfree_sensitive auth information disclosure

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability marked as critical has been reported in Linux Kernel up to 6.12.85/6.18.26/7.0.3. This affects the function kfree_sensitive of the component tpm. Performing a manipulation of the argument auth results in information disclosure. This vulnerability is identified as CVE-2026-46283. There is not any exploit available. It is suggested to upgrade the affected component.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability classified as problematic has been found in Linux Kernel up to 6.12.85/6.18.26/7.0.3. This affects the function kfree_sensitive of the component tpm. The manipulation of the argument auth with an unknown input leads to a information disclosure vulnerability. CWE is classifying the issue as CWE-200. The product exposes sensitive information to an actor that is not explicitly authorized to have access to that information. This is going to have an impact on confidentiality. The summary by CVE is:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: tpm: Use kfree_sensitive() to free auth session in tpm_dev_release() tpm_dev_release() uses plain kfree() to free chip->auth, which contains sensitive cryptographic material including HMAC session keys, nonces, and passphrase data (struct tpm2_auth). Every other code path that frees this structure uses kfree_sensitive() to zero the memory before releasing it: both tpm2_end_auth_session() and tpm_buf_check_hmac_response() do so. The tpm_dev_release() path is the only one that does not, leaving key material in freed slab memory until it is eventually overwritten. Use kfree_sensitive() for consistency with the rest of the driver and to ensure session keys are scrubbed during device teardown.

The advisory is shared at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability is uniquely identified as CVE-2026-46283 since 05/13/2026. Technical details are known, but no exploit is available. The price for an exploit might be around USD $0-$5k at the moment (estimation calculated on 06/08/2026). MITRE ATT&CK project uses the attack technique T1592 for this issue.

Upgrading to version 6.12.86, 6.18.27, 7.0.4 or 7.1-rc1 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch dd3ac52ea7a001406c7dbc663aae4b9f89da679a/53e6d2d834df40960b655b353e7a8ff4d927e1c7/84ced03172da544c9f8c0862faad48104f519352/c424d2664f08c77f08b4580b5f0cbaabf7c229b2 is able to eliminate this problem. The bugfix is ready for download at git.kernel.org. The best possible mitigation is suggested to be upgrading to the latest version.

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Productinfo

Type

• Operating System

Vendor

• Linux

Name

• Kernel

Version

• 6.12.0
• 6.12.1
• 6.12.2
• 6.12.3
• 6.12.4
• 6.12.5
• 6.12.6
• 6.12.7
• 6.12.8
• 6.12.9
• 6.12.10
• 6.12.11
• 6.12.12
• 6.12.13
• 6.12.14
• 6.12.15
• 6.12.16
• 6.12.17
• 6.12.18
• 6.12.19
• 6.12.20
• 6.12.21
• 6.12.22
• 6.12.23
• 6.12.24
• 6.12.25
• 6.12.26
• 6.12.27
• 6.12.28
• 6.12.29
• 6.12.30
• 6.12.31
• 6.12.32
• 6.12.33
• 6.12.34
• 6.12.35
• 6.12.36
• 6.12.37
• 6.12.38
• 6.12.39
• 6.12.40
• 6.12.41
• 6.12.42
• 6.12.43
• 6.12.44
• 6.12.45
• 6.12.46
• 6.12.47
• 6.12.48
• 6.12.49
• 6.12.50
• 6.12.51
• 6.12.52
• 6.12.53
• 6.12.54
• 6.12.55
• 6.12.56
• 6.12.57
• 6.12.58
• 6.12.59
• 6.12.60
• 6.12.61
• 6.12.62
• 6.12.63
• 6.12.64
• 6.12.65
• 6.12.66
• 6.12.67
• 6.12.68
• 6.12.69
• 6.12.70
• 6.12.71
• 6.12.72
• 6.12.73
• 6.12.74
• 6.12.75
• 6.12.76
• 6.12.77
• 6.12.78
• 6.12.79
• 6.12.80
• 6.12.81
• 6.12.82
• 6.12.83
• 6.12.84
• 6.12.85
• 6.18.0
• 6.18.1
• 6.18.2
• 6.18.3
• 6.18.4
• 6.18.5
• 6.18.6
• 6.18.7
• 6.18.8
• 6.18.9
• 6.18.10
• 6.18.11
• 6.18.12
• 6.18.13
• 6.18.14
• 6.18.15
• 6.18.16
• 6.18.17
• 6.18.18
• 6.18.19
• 6.18.20
• 6.18.21
• 6.18.22
• 6.18.23
• 6.18.24
• 6.18.25
• 6.18.26
• 7.0.0
• 7.0.1
• 7.0.2
• 7.0.3

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.kernel.org/

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