Linux Kernel up to 7.1.8 Thermal Hwmon /drivers/hwmon thermal_add_hwmon_sysfs use after free

CVSS Meta Temp Score CVSS is a standardized scoring system to determine possibilities of attacks. The Temp Score considers temporal factors like disclosure, exploit and countermeasures. The unique Meta Score calculates the average score of different sources to provide a normalized scoring system.	Current Exploit Price (≈) Our analysts are monitoring exploit markets and are in contact with vulnerability brokers. The range indicates the observed or calculated exploit price to be seen on exploit markets. A good indicator to understand the monetary effort required for and the popularity of an attack.	CTI Interest Score Our Cyber Threat Intelligence team is monitoring different web sites, mailing lists, exploit markets and social media networks. The CTI Interest Score identifies the interest of attackers and the security community for this specific vulnerability in real-time. A high score indicates an elevated risk to be targeted for this vulnerability.
7.8	$0-$5k	0.43-

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel up to 7.1.8. It has been declared as very critical. This vulnerability affects the function thermal_add_hwmon_sysfs of the file /drivers/hwmon of the component Thermal Hwmon. The manipulation results in use after free. This vulnerability is identified as CVE-2026-74604. The attack is only possible with local access. There is not any exploit available.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel up to 7.1.8. It has been classified as very critical. Affected is the function thermal_add_hwmon_sysfs of the file /drivers/hwmon of the component Thermal Hwmon. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a use after free vulnerability. CWE is classifying the issue as CWE-416. Referencing memory after it has been freed can cause a program to crash, use unexpected values, or execute code. This is going to have an impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability. CVE summarizes:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: Revert "thermal/drivers/hwmon: Cleanup coding style a bit" Revert commit 030a48b0f6ce ("thermal/drivers/hwmon: Cleanup coding style a bit") that introduced a use-after-free into the error path of thermal_add_hwmon_sysfs() by removing a valid check from it.

The advisory is available at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability is traded as CVE-2026-74604 since 08/15/2026. The exploitability is told to be easy. Local access is required to approach this attack. The exploitation needs additional levels of successful authentication. Technical details are known, but there is no available exploit. The structure of the vulnerability defines a possible price range of USD $0-$5k at the moment (estimation calculated on 08/22/2026).

Upgrading to version 5.15.216, 6.1.183, 6.6.152, 6.12.104, 6.18.45 or 7.1.9 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch 2434f4765da8ccd7ef31be88b86f1bfa2e95be11/b4c01ae6dd56d9dfd96bd1b29c28afa8fa06b366/999e573212d5f1debf073c68be35e55bbfad12fc/6a48ee9a5bda0f8ee501f9bef159fb9f39ff519a/8d34019d1413629a434a7e8d9f91c76d256196a0/6b446d335ba16e93a266dd77adf1ba51abc82df4/ff8da20b6f47c48d46e47f93f7a59e2d56ee9107 is able to eliminate this problem.

If you want to get best quality of vulnerability data, you may have to visit VulDB.

Productinfo

Type

• Operating System

Vendor

• Linux

Name

• Kernel

Version

• 5.15.215
• 6.1.182
• 6.6.151
• 6.12.103
• 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
• 6.18.27
• 6.18.28
• 6.18.29
• 6.18.30
• 6.18.31
• 6.18.32
• 6.18.33
• 6.18.34
• 6.18.35
• 6.18.36
• 6.18.37
• 6.18.38
• 6.18.39
• 6.18.40
• 6.18.41
• 6.18.42
• 6.18.43
• 6.18.44
• 7.1.0
• 7.1.1
• 7.1.2
• 7.1.3
• 7.1.4
• 7.1.5
• 7.1.6
• 7.1.7
• 7.1.8

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.kernel.org/

CPE 2.3info

• 🔒
• 🔒
• 🔒

CPE 2.2info

• 🔒
• 🔒
• 🔒

CVSSv4info

VulDB Vector: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CVSSv3info

VulDB Meta Base Score: 8.2
VulDB Meta Temp Score: 7.8

VulDB Base Score: 8.2
VulDB Temp Score: 7.8
VulDB Vector: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CVSSv2info

AV	AC	Au	C	I	A
💳	💳	💳	💳	💳	💳
💳	💳	💳	💳	💳	💳
💳	💳	💳	💳	💳	💳

Vector	Complexity	Authentication	Confidentiality	Integrity	Availability
Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock
Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock
Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock

VulDB Base Score: 🔒
VulDB Temp Score: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

Exploitinginfo

Class: Use after free
CWE: CWE-416 / CWE-119
CAPEC: 🔒
ATT&CK: 🔒

Physical: Partially
Local: Yes
Remote: No

Availability: 🔒
Status: Not defined
Price Prediction: 🔍
Current Price Estimation: 🔒

0-Day	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock
Today	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock

Threat Intelligenceinfo

Interest: 🔍
Active Actors: 🔍
Active APT Groups: 🔍

Countermeasuresinfo

Recommended: Upgrade
Status: 🔍

0-Day Time: 🔒

Upgrade: Kernel 5.15.216/6.1.183/6.6.152/6.12.104/6.18.45/7.1.9
Patch: 2434f4765da8ccd7ef31be88b86f1bfa2e95be11/b4c01ae6dd56d9dfd96bd1b29c28afa8fa06b366/999e573212d5f1debf073c68be35e55bbfad12fc/6a48ee9a5bda0f8ee501f9bef159fb9f39ff519a/8d34019d1413629a434a7e8d9f91c76d256196a0/6b446d335ba16e93a266dd77adf1ba51abc82df4/ff8da20b6f47c48d46e47f93f7a59e2d56ee9107

Timelineinfo

08/15/2026 CVE reserved
08/22/2026 +7 days Advisory disclosed
08/22/2026 +0 days VulDB entry created
08/22/2026 +0 days VulDB entry last update

Sourcesinfo

Vendor: kernel.org

Advisory: git.kernel.org
Status: Confirmed

CVE: CVE-2026-74604 (🔒)
GCVE (CVE): GCVE-0-2026-74604
GCVE (VulDB): GCVE-100-394386

Entryinfo

Created: 08/22/2026 18:06
Changes: 08/22/2026 18:06 (60)
Complete: 🔍
Cache ID: 216::103

If you want to get best quality of vulnerability data, you may have to visit VulDB.

Discussion

Do you want to use VulDB in your project?

Use the official API to access entries easily!