CVE-2026-46176
Linux Kernel 6.6.64 – 6.6.140
Raw vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:HSummary
CVE-2026-46176 is a high-severity Expired Pointer Dereference (CWE-825) vulnerability in Linux Linux Kernel. Its CVSS base score is 7.8 (High).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploitation for Privilege Escalation (T1068); ranked at the 4th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to SA-11 (Developer Testing and Evaluation) and SA-8 (Security and Privacy Engineering Principles) — see the control section below for these in your framework.
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2026-32803
Vulnerability Data
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: RDMA/mlx5: Fix error path fall-through in mlx5_ib_dev_res_srq_init() mlx5_ib_dev_res_srq_init() allocates two SRQs, s0 and s1. When ib_create_srq() fails for s1, the error branch destroys s0 but falls through and unconditionally assigns…
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the freed s0 and the ERR_PTR s1 to devr->s0 and devr->s1. This leads to several problems: the lock-free fast path checks "if (devr->s1) return 0;" and treats the ERR_PTR as already initialised; users in mlx5_ib_create_qp() dereference the freed SRQ or ERR_PTR via to_msrq(devr->s0)->msrq.srqn; and mlx5_ib_dev_res_cleanup() dereferences the ERR_PTR and double-frees s0 on teardown. Fix by adding the same `goto unlock` in the s1 failure path.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI
Developer testing and evaluation (including fuzzing, static analysis, and dynamic memory checkers) directly finds expired-pointer dereferences before deployment.
Secure engineering principles applied during design and implementation can mandate memory-safe allocation, ownership, and deallocation patterns that structurally avoid use of expired pointers.
Process isolation confines the effects of a use-after-free within a single address space, reducing cross-process impact.
Memory-protection mechanisms limit the blast radius when an expired pointer is dereferenced, even though they do not stop the coding flaw itself.
Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI
Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.
Secure-development practices directly prevent coding errors such as use-after-free while one CWE contributes only modestly to the full control.
Lifecycle management includes secure development and maintenance phases that reduce memory-safety defects.
Vulnerability identification processes can discover use-after-free flaws via scanning or analysis.
Routine patching and replacement can eliminate known instances of expired-pointer bugs.
Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI
Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.
Security testing can detect use-after-free issues, but removing this weakness alone does not fulfill the testing control.
Secure development lifecycle practices can include pointer lifetime and memory-management rules that reduce expired-pointer dereferences.
Application security requirements may mandate safe memory handling, but eliminating this single weakness does not satisfy the broader requirement.
Secure architecture and engineering principles can prescribe memory-safety patterns, yet fixing only this weakness does not achieve the control.
Secure coding standards directly address pointer lifetime and deallocation discipline, substantially mitigating expired-pointer dereference.
Change-management processes can require re-validation of memory safety after modifications, indirectly reducing the weakness.